Eternal Twilight
by Omnius The Traveling Guardian
Summary: SPINOFF/SEQUEL TO "Omnius' Travels: Equestria". Takes place three months after the events in "Omnius' Travels: Equestria". The Traveler of Good and Twilight start to have feelings for one another. Can they overcome the obstacles that lie before them?
1. Prologue: Twilight

**Prologue:**

**Twilight**

One of the most commonly asked philosophical questions: "Which do you like better, the day, or the night?"

How you answer that can say a lot about you. Some people will say that if you like the day, you're someone who likes to see the path ahead of them, and who craves social interaction of some kind, as people tend to come out during the day, where it's safe, and warm. You might also just like it because you get to see all the colors that the world has to offer, or because you feel safer in the light. Why, you might even enjoy it just because of the clouds, and how your mind's eye can shape them into whatever form it so desires.

Others will say that if you like the night, that you are a person of silence, who prefers the twinkling stars that hold so much mystery to many creatures. You like the company of only a few people, but you feel close to them all the same. You keep them close to you, so you don't lose sight of them in the vast, seemingly empty night. Maybe you just like to relax in your bed, with your love by your side, and be glad that you both survived another day, and have reached the peace of the darkness.

Yes, a lot can be said about you depending on how you answer that question.

But myself? In all honesty, I prefer the twilight, that time when it is both day, and night. That time when we can see the greatest qualities that both sides have to offer. It doesn't last as long as the others, but that means you just have to make sure that you enjoy it as much as you can. Twilight appears at both the beginning of another night, and at the dawning of a new day, greeting everyone that goes by.

You can see the stars, and the clouds during twilight, and enjoy their beauty side by side, while you wait for the sunset/sunrise. It signals the end, and the beginning.

Twilight holds the first star, the star that we all have wished upon once, and still do.

You can't honestly tell me that when you look at the sky, there's not one small part of you that wishes on that shining star, hoping for a better tomorrow.

All in all, I guess I can say what's pretty obvious by now:

I love Twilight.

Now I just have to answer the most commonly asked philosophical question that no one can avoid, no matter how hard they try:

Why?


	2. Trust me, I'm a Certified Looney!

**Chapter 1:**

**Trust Me, I'm a Certifiable Looney!**

A gentle breeze lightly tossed my mane about, flicking a few strands across my face, and making me feel like a serious badass.

Let's see…Cliff overlooking Ponyville?

Check.

Wind that's rustling my dark brown hair, and blue vest?

Double Check.

Guile's Theme playing in my head?

Sonic-check.

Monkey butler with a tray of peanut-butter and banana sandwiches?

…Note to self, get monkey butler and teach him how to make sandwiches.

Wait, what was I talking about? OH, RIGHT!

I stood on a tall outcropping of rock on the side of a mountain that was overlooking what I now considered a second home: Ponyville. After being gone for what felt like…oh, say, three months, it looked even better than I remembered it. Hell, I could even see that Lyra and Bon-Bon were both sitting in their usual park bench, most likely talking about their daily lives, or maybe a new theory about humans that Lyra had found in one of her books.

"Wait a second," I said to myself as I put a pair of invisible binoculars to my face. "Why are there so many ponies out and about? Normally, they're busy working at their stalls, or something…"

Scratching absently at my dark, thicker version of a "Gordon Freeman" goatee, I decided it was time I applied my detective skills to this scene. Okay, so let's see…red and pink color schemes…ponies wandering about in pairs…Hugh Jelly in his usual vat of jam…

"Is it Hearts and Hooves day?" Of course, dump me back here when it's a romantic holiday. Fate has a weird sense of humor. "Welp, I'm not getting anywhere standing on this cliff!" I pulled out a set of glasses with those weird shutter things on them, and put them on my face, letting out a crazy grin as I did so.

Unfurling my chocolate brown wings, I backed up, and said, "Looks like I'm gonna have to jump!" Oh, if only I had my gun-chuks…

Before my common sense could say anything, I leaped off of the cliff, and plummeted to the ground, reveling in the feeling of wind rushing past my face. Snapping my wings, I pulled up from the dive, and soared across the canopy of trees that made up the Everfree forest. The tips of my hooves barely grazed the tops of the green foliage, and I lazily glided towards Ponyville, trying to figure out what I should do next.

"Well, I don't wanna go to my house just yet. I wanna say hi to everypony…but it's a holiday, and they're probably spending it with somepony…wait, Spike is probably at the library! I haven't seen the scaly dude in a while!"

My decision made, I picked up altitude, and flew towards the direction of the library, happy to be alive.

Oh yeah. You already know what I'm gonna say.

"It's good to be The Traveler!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Landing gracefully (and by that, I mean on all four hooves for once), I opened the door of the library, and said, "Hello, I'm looking for a book on how to realize you've gone insane! And so is the little voice inside my head."

_No I'm not._

Quiet you!

"Omnius? Is that you?" For some odd reason, I felt my heart beat slightly faster, and I turned to see a lavender colored unicorn with dark purple hair, accented with a single pink streak, smiling warmly at me from the top of her stairs.

I felt a smile appear on my face, and I bowed, saying, "The one and only!"

"It is you!" Twilight Sparkle, one of my closest friends in all the multiverses, quickly trotted down the stairs, and said, "It's great to see you again!"

"You too, Twi," I laughed, wrapping my arms around her in a friendly hug. "How've you been lately?"

"Oh, fine," she replied, returning my hug happily. "You know how crazy things can get around here!"

"Don't I know it?" I said, holding her out at hoove's length. "Here now; Why aren't you out and about? Don'cha know it's Hearts and Hooves day?"

She blushed, and tried to distract me by saying, "How'd you know that was today?"

"Twilight, I learned from Sherlock Holmes and Harry Dresden. I think I know how to figure things out," I chuckled. "But that's not an answer to my question."

She averted her eyes, and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Is she actually embarrassed or something? Pressing her for an answer, I said, "Come on, Twi, what's up? Did you just plan on studying through the whole day again?"

"Well…not exactly…" she hesitantly said. "I wanted to try and go out with somepony, but, uh…"

My eyes widened in realization, and I stated, "You didn't know who to ask. Either that, or they were already taken."

She smiled sheepishly. "Uh, maybe something like that."

"Well," I nodded. "It's settled. Pick a restaurant; we're goin' out to eat!" I grabbed the door, and held it open for Twilight, giving her a mock bow.

"What? But-"

I interrupted her by putting my hoof over her mouth, and saying, "No buts. We eat, we dine, we feast!"

She rolled her eyes, pushing my hoof away from her mouth. For a moment, it almost felt like a tingle of energy passed through my arm, where she touched me. Huh. Must be some static electricity or something.

"Alright, alright," Twilight giggled. "We can go and grab a bite to eat."

"Great!" I shouted, giving her a wide smile. "Where do you wanna go? That Three-Leaf clover place? Or should we just go to the market place and pick up stuff for a picnic?"

"I like the idea of a picnic," she said, heading towards the direction of said market. "But what will we bring? Oh, maybe I should get one of my books and see if-"

"Twilight. Food is food," I grunted. "We see something that sounds good, we get it. Simple as that!"

"Are you sure?" Twilight's stomach then grumbled, and I stifled another set of chuckles. Oh, stomachs. You always betray us at the exact wrong times. That's why we love, and hate you.

"Yes, I think I'm sure," I answered. "Come on: IT'S FOOD TIME!"

With that, I strode forth, walking with Twilight to the land of good foods, and horrible vendors.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Well, howdy there, Omnius!" A familiar southern-drawl called out over the crowd of pony couples.

"Applejack!" I shouted back, pushing a way through to her, while making sure I didn't lose sight of Twilight. As we made our way to the orange and blonde cowpony, she grinned mischievously at us, looking like she had just thought of something funny.

"What are you two doin' out here?" Applejack asked the two of us as we finally came to her stall. For once, it seemed as if we had managed to get to the front of the line with relatively little trouble, and she still had some of her best looking apple-related treats for sale.

"Well, I just got back, and found out that Twilight didn't have any plans for Hearts and Hooves day! Can you believe it?" I shook my head, tsk'ing in mock shame. "So I figured, why not go out for a picnic? Good way to catch up, right?"

Applejack shot Twilight a look, and said, "Now that's a real nice thing to do. Hey, tell ya what, I'll give y'all some apples on the house!"

"Really?" I asked. "Thanks, A.J! I owe you one!"

"Nah, it's nuthin'. Say, why don'cha go over to that cherry seller? I heard she's got some real good deals on cherries today!" She said cheerfully, gesturing to a long line in front of that infamous cherry vendor.

"Mm…nah, I'm not big on cherries," I confessed. "Unless you want some, Twi, then I'll go grab us some."

"Oh, uh…" Twilight's eyes darted about, and Applejack coughed into her hoof, giving Twilight another pointed look. "Oh! I'd love some cherries. I'll just get the apples, and maybe something else while you get them!"

I shrugged, and trotted over to the line, silently lamenting the fact that it was freaking LONG. "I'll be right back!" I called, before I started to whistle the Super Mario Bros. tune.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Alright, Twi," Applejack said as soon as Omnius had left them, "admit it."

"Admit what?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Oh, come on now, tain't nuthin' ya need to hide from me," she replied, giving Twilight a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "Why, I think everypony else knows it! Ah mean, Ah've seen the way you two look at each other!"

"Applejack, are you seriously implying that Omnius and I…" Twilight blushed, embarrassed by the question, before saying, "Like each other?"

"Sugarcube, it's pretty dern obvious," She chuckled, putting a small load of apples into a bag, before hoofing it to her red-faced friend. "Ah reckon you two are just too stubborn to say it!"

"No, it's not like that!" Twilight argued. "We're just really close friends!"

"Then why the hay did he come to see you first, hm?" Applejack shot back. At Twilight's flinch, she continued, saying, "Twi, you like him. Why don'cha tell him?"

Twilight was quiet, as she tried to think of a good answer. She knew that Applejack could be trusted with any secret, but…how could she explain it? Finally, she just sighed, and said, "I don't know. Sometimes I think it's because I don't know how to say it, or maybe it's because I'm scared of how he'll react." She closed her eyes, and continued, saying, "What if he doesn't like me back? What if it ruins our friendship, and he leaves forever?"

The Farm-pony's eyes softened, and she gave Twilight a small hug. "Ah, don't you fret none. Besides, ya know that Omnius ain't the type to let something like this push him away from a friend, and I'd say you two are as close as can be."

Twilight giggled, and said, "He feels the same way about you and the others though."

"Nah, we're just his friends. You, on the other hoof…" Applejack stopped, and tried to find the right words. "Well, you two know each other the best! You're like…uh…"

"Best friends?" Twilight supplied.

"No, it's kinda more than that…well, you're special to him! Don'cha remember how mad he got when he saw that Discord made you cry?" She said, internally wincing as she remembered that fiasco.

Twilight flinched too, and said, "I remember..."

"There ya go then, Twi! You're his special somepony, but you just don't know how to say it to him!" Applejack said cheerfully.

"I don't know…I'll have to think about it," Twilight said uncertainly, her thoughts conflicting with one another in her head.

"Alrighty then…oh, look, here he comes now!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Rip-off artist!" I shouted back at the cherry vendor, before trotting back in the direction of Twilight and Applejack. At the strange looks they were giving me, I set the basket of cherries down, and gestured at the vendor, saying, "You would not believe the nerve of that cherry mare! She tried to make me pay for an entire cherry orchard!"

"Yeah, she does that every now and then," Applejack said, grinning. She then pushed the bag of apple treats to Twilight, and said, "Now y'all better get movin' iffin you want to enjoy the rest of the day! Nice seein' you again, Omnius!"

"You too, Applejack," I said, picking up the basket of cherries again. As we trotted off, I glanced over at Twilight, and frowned slightly. She was looking a little nervous, for some reason. Concerned, I asked her, "Is everything alright, Twilight? You look a little jumpy there."

She gave me a small grin, and said, "Oh, no, it's fine. So, where do you want to have our picnic?"

I thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. "I know! There's this really nice little hill that has a great view of the sky! Wanna go there?"

"I'd love to," She said, nodding.

"Alright! Esperanto!" I shouted, running off down the path. "Follow me!"

"Omnius, wait up!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 2:  
When Do You Know?_

"_So…nice weather we're having?"_

_ "Oh, yes, it does look nice."_

_ "You look nicer though. Wait, that was supposed to be a thought bubble!"_

_ "Hey, guess what?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "I'm going out with Octavia tonight!"_


	3. When Do You Know?

**Chapter 2:  
When Do You Know?**

"Hey, Omnius?" Twilight asked as they reached a small hill that was just on the outskirts of town. She glanced at The Traveler, and her heart skipped a beat, as she met his warm brown eyes. Catching herself staring at him, she turned her face back to the path, trying to suppress a blush that was threatening to reveal her feelings.

"Yeah, Twi?" He replied, looking at her. Mistaking her blush for exhaustion, he said, "Well, that's not right. You've been carrying the heavier stuff this whole time! Here, let me get that for you."

With that, he reached over, and gently grasped the saddlebag of apples in his teeth, and tossed it over himself with a practiced ease. Twilight suppressed a shiver as his lips gently brushed over her back, and she gave him a small smile. "You don't have to do that, I'm fine, really."

Omnius shook his head, and adjusted the two bags he was holding on his back, saying, "No, it's not fine. Sorry if it seems old-fashioned, but my Dad raised me to do stuff like this."

Twilight swallowed, but didn't raise any more protests. Now that she wasn't distracted by the weight of the heavy apple bags, she wondered if Applejack hadn't done that on purpose. AJ knew that Omnius had a certain air of chivalry to him that he would always deny…no, she wouldn't do that.

Would she?

She shook her head, and settled for trying to think of a way to tell Omnius how she really felt about him. Going over multiple books that she had read on the subject in her head, she attempted to come up with a good way to start it off.

"We're here," Omnius said suddenly, stopping at the top of the hill. He gently set the bags down on the ground, and pulled out a large red-and-white checkered blanket that he unfolded.

As he did that, Twilight's horn glowed softly, as she levitated all of the food out of the bags and set them down in organized piles on the blanket. Omnius smiled appreciatively, and set himself down next to a bowl of chocolate covered cherries.

"Want some?" He offered, holding out the bowl to Twilight.

"No, uh, not right now…" She refused politely. Truthfully, she wasn't very hungry to begin with, but…

He frowned, but then shrugged and popped a couple of the tiny candies into his mouth, deciding to let the matter drop. For a few moments, they simply ate in silence, Twilight nibbling on an apple tart, and Omnius devouring both a slice of apple and cherry pie.

Finally, Omnius wiped some crumbs off of his face, and said, "So…nice weather we're having?" He gestured at the slowly setting sun, and the lazily drifting clouds in the sky with a free hoof.

"Oh, yes, it does look nice," She replied, nodding in agreement.

"You look nicer though…wait…" Omnius' eyes widened, and he hit himself with a hoof, muttering, "That was supposed to be in a thought bubble!"

Twilight blushed, and averted her gaze. Struggling to get the words past a hard lump in her throat, she managed to stutter out, "Uh, um, thank you…"

Omnius grinned nervously, before he asked, "Yeah, uh…how've things been?"

Thankful for the sudden change of topic, she sighed, and said, "Things have been good. A little boring lately…that's actually what I wanted to ask you about earlier."

"Hm?"

"Well, it's just…you told me that you always go to a world when you're needed," Twilight pointed out. "I really am glad you're here though, but why ARE you here?"

The Traveler scratched his beard absently, his face furrowed in deep thought. Twilight could practically see the gears turning in his head, as he silently considered her question. Finally, after what felt like hours, he simply shrugged, and said, "I don't know. I guess I'm needed here though."

"Are you sure you're not here to…never mind," She said, gaining a sudden intense interest in an apple slice that was right in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Omnius asked, immediately picking up on her discomfort.

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "Do you ever think you could be more than friends with anypony?"

Once again, silence had entered the area, and the pure force of his swag and badassery immediately meant that he reigned supreme.

"What, you mean like best friends?" Omnius finally said after a moment.

Realizing that she had already gone this far, she said, "No, more than that."

"Double-best friends? Triple?" His eyes widened, and in an awed voice, he said, "Dare I say…"

Twilight held her breath, hanging onto his every word in anticipation.

"…Quadruple-best friends?"

…Silence facepalmed, and decided to leave before things got even more awkward.

Twilight tried to get the words out of her mouth, but her courage finally failed her, leaving her unable to say what she really wanted to say. Instead, she nodded. "Yes, that."

"Hm…yeah, I think it's already happened," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, aren't we quadruple-best friends?"

"Yeah, of course we are…after all, I do trust you with my life," Twilight answered, hoping he would pick up on the hint.

"Really?"

"Yes. You've really done a lot for m-," She coughed slightly, trying to cover her little slip-up, and said, "A lot for all of us, and you've told us that you trust us with yours!"

"That's true," he grinned. He then nodded at the sunset, and chuckled. "Hey, check it out. It's your time of day again."

"What?" Twilight asked, confused.

"It's twilight," he explained. "You know, that time just between day and night?"

"Oh!" She looked over at the horizon, and smiled. "Yes, I guess it is."

Omnius smiled, and scooted close to her, gently brushing against her side. Wrapping his forehoof around her in a hug, he softly said, "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Twilight."

"You too…" She whispered. Then, in a quiet breath, she added, "Nathan."

And together, the two of them sat on a hilltop, surrounded by half-eaten food, watching the sunset and enjoying one another's company.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID!

I had just returned to my house after walking Twilight home. Even though the day had gone by smoothly, I was still berating myself for saying that whole, "You look nicer" line. DAMN IT! That's just…GAH!

"Ye Gods," I muttered, slumping on my couch, still in pony form. "Why did I say that? Sure, she looks really nice, but I didn't have to say that to her!"

A sudden knocking at my door pulled me out of my thoughts, and I hauled myself over to it to answer. As soon as it was open, I felt myself get hugged by a rush of grey feathers and blond hair.

"Derpy!" I said happily, returning the hug.

"Nathan!" she said back, letting me go. Derpy Hooves, the only mare in Ponyville who needs no description or introduction, smiled at me, her post-mare cap sitting at a jaunty angle on her head. "It's great to see you!"

"You too! How's Dinky doin' these days?" I asked, remembering her little foal. Damn, but that kid was just adorable!

"She's fine! Oh, before I forget, I have some mail for you!" Derpy reached into a small, worn brown satchel at her side, and pulled out few letters. On in particular an envelope covered in elegant writing, caught my eye.

"Huh. Didn't expect this little surprise," I muttered, looking over the letters. The light was too dim to make out anything, but I gave Derpy another smile, and said, "Thanks, Ditzy."

"Yep! Now if you'll excuse me, these letters won't deliver themselves! I'll see you around, Nate!" She called out, unfurling her wings and flying back towards the town.

Closing my door, I made my way back to my couch, and glanced at the dark, dusty fireplace.

Let's see…transform back into a human or unicorn, and light fire, or stay in Pegasus form and settle for a blanket. Ugh, it's a battle of laziness versus how much I like lighting things on fire. Debating over it with myself for a while, I ended up just clicking on a lamp to read the letters, and wrapped myself in a thin blanket.

Laziness: 17  
Fire: 15  
Bieber: -9  
Ponies: Had me beaten from the start.

I chuckled to myself, as I recalled some of the good times that I now owed to the ponies. Thoughts of a certain mare kept creeping into my mind, and I shifted uneasily. "Why can't I stop thinking about her?" I asked, staring at my floor in worry.

In an effort to distract myself, I grabbed the letters and started going through them. One was another pay check for "Treble Cliff", giving me my usual modest amount of bits. Sweet, that'll pay for some groceries and such. Maybe I had enough to buy a couple tickets to that astronomy showing and take Twi-

Next letter! Hey, it's from Fancypants! Ye Gods, but you just gotta love that guy. Seriously, he's the rich dude that everyone wishes they knew, and he's just an all around cool pony. The way he stood up for everypony at Twilight's birthday party-

GODS DAMNIT BRAIN! I tossed aside the letters I had gone through, and shook my head. "No! Don't think about her!" I scolded myself. "You can't, I repeat, CAN'T do this…not again, and not with her…" A tear leaked out of my eye, and I added, "Besides, she deserves somepony who won't get her into trouble time and time again. Not someone who has a tendency to be a walking disaster zone."

With a heavy heart, I sighed, and looked up at the mantle above the fireplace. It was completely packed with photos of my friends and I, but one picture always stood out in particular: A picture of a woman with soft red hair, ocean-green eyes, and a smile that could make you feel as if you were walking on top of the world.

Jenna…

…What is with all the emotional stuff? PULL IT TOGETHER TRAVELER!

Nodding, I picked up the last letter, and raised my eyebrow. Huh. Nice hoofwriting. Apparently it's from-

WAIT. Wait, wait, wait! I tore open the envelope in excitement, and felt a smile appear on my face as I scanned through the note.

"Dear Mr. Cliff, blah, blah, blah, we met at the Gala last time you appeared, and I was deeply intrigued by your musical styling's, blah, blah, blah, and am now wondering if you would be interested in…" I looked up from the letter, and cackled in glee.

What? Villains aren't the only ones who can cackle! It's a fun way to laugh, and you should try it some time!

Snatching a pen and paper from the drawer I kept to the side of my couch, I wrote a response to the fellow musician, and sealed it inside of one of my now trademark blue envelopes, sealed with my insignia on it.

"Oh, it's good to be The Traveler!" I laughed, running outside, and taking off into the starry sky. Thank the Gods that the Post Office is open late.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Thanks!" I said to the current on-duty mail mare.

She nodded, and I trotted back outside, relishing in the cool night air. Truly, it's a wonderful night to have a curse.

I think I messed that line up. Meh, oh well. Deciding to give my wings a break, I trotted cheerfully through Ponyville, saying hello to some of the fellow late nighters that knew me from some of my…escapades.

"Oi, Omnius!" One called out to me. "When you gon' pay for that bar you destroyed?"

"I didn't destroy it, the colt that spilled my coke did."

We both shared a laugh, and I kept going, chuckling to myself every now and then.

"Omnius, darling? Is that you?" A high, sophisticated voice asked.

"If I'm not, then he's gonna get mad at me for wearing his underwear," I joked, turning around to see Rarity with a sleek pair of sunglasses on. "Why are you wearing sunglasses at night?"

"I have a customer who asked me to find a way to make these work during the moon hours," she explained, levitating the glasses off of her face. "They said, they wanted to, 'keep track of the lines that they weave' or some such thing like that."

"Huh," I responded. "Didn't know they had access to that song."

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, but where are my manners? It's ever so good to see you again," Rarity said, matching my stride. "How have you been today?"

"Pretty good. I just got back today, and I got to take Twilight out for a picnic-" Before I could say anything, Rarity gasped, and she gave me her 'gossip' smile.

"I knew it, I just knew that you two were destined for each other!" She said joyfully. "I mean, I had my suspicions when you and her first wandered into my boutique that fateful Summer Sun Celebration, but I didn't think that-"

"Rarity. What are you talking about?" I deadpanned.

"Beg pardon? You mean that you don't…?"

"I have no clue what you're getting at," I lied. "But in other news, I got a letter that really makes my day."

"Oh?" Rarity said, a little crestfallen.

"Yeah. Guess what?" I nearly squealed, hopping in place like Pinkie for a moment.

"What?"

"I'm going out with Octavia tomorrow night!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 3:__  
__In Her Eyes_

_ "What do you think he and Octy are doing?"_

_ "Ah bet Omnius is makin' a fool outta both of them somehow!"_

_ "Twilight, what do you think?"_

_ "…"_

_ "Why do you keep avoiding the topic?"_

_ "Look, I jus-"_

_ "No! Answer me right now: Do you care about me, or not?"_

_ "I do! You're my friend!"_

_ "No, not like that! I mean…do you…love me?"_

_ "…"_

_ "Well?"_

_ "…Twilight, I can't love you."_


	4. In Her Eyes

**Chapter 3:**

**In Her Eyes**

I stood in front of a pony-sized mirror at Rarity's boutique, and smiled happily. "Thanks again, Rarity, for making me a new suit."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, my dear!" she said, her horn glowing as she took my measurements.

After I had told Rarity the news, she had insisted that I come in the next morning to get fitted for a new suit, so that I'd actually look nice. Heh. Me, looking nice. Perish the very thought!

"So, you and Octavia, hm?" The fashionista said, casually wrapping me in various fabrics.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome! I've really wanted to do this for a while," I admitted, wincing a little. "Uh, Rarity? Too tight around the neck."

"Terribly sorry," Rarity apologized, loosening her grip. "I must have NOT NOTICED THE OBVIOUS."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

For a while, I stood there in silence, letting Rarity get me outfitted for my suit. A couple of times it seemed that she was a little off today, as she kept accidentally jabbing needles into me. I figured I knew why she was doing this, but chose to keep quiet.

I'll have to put up with worse if things keep going the way they are.

"Now then, how did you and Miss Octavia meet?" Rarity asked me as she worked, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Well, when we were at the Grand Galloping Gala, after the whole…" I coughed slightly, and continued, "Incident…I met up with her, and found out that we have a lot in common."

"Oh? Does she share your love of learning, or maybe…magic?" Rarity stressed. "Or does she like books too?"

"Um…not that I know of," I replied, faking confusion. "But we have the same tastes in music, and she's apparently a fairly big fan of my work."

"Huh…that sounds like someone else we all know!"

"Really? Cool. Anyways, I'm really hoping that this'll lead to us getting together more often," I said, my tone hinting that she should let the matter drop. Apparently, Rarity is about as good at taking hints at I am, because she kept badgering me with questions.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when the suit was finished.

"Thanks, Rarity." I passed her a bag of bits, and at her slightly offended/confused expression, I stated, "For the suit. See you later."

"Oh, thank you…" She reluctantly said. "Now you have fun with Octavia…" She added with a trace of venom in her voice.

"Aight," I said in a neutral tone. Alright, I'll admit that I was being rude, but hey, give me some credit: She was jabbing me with needles for what must have been hours, and pestering me with questions that I couldn't properly answer.

Turning, I walked out of the boutique, my suit neatly folded and placed into a saddlebag at my side. Unfurling my wings once again, I made my way over to my house, trying to get myself psyched up for my night.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Hmph," Rarity snorted as she watched Omnius fly off. "I simply cannot believe that he is being this oblivious!"

An angry glimmer in her eyes, she snatched a saddlebag from a peg on her wall, and started filling it with various materials. In a dramatic voice, she declared, "Just you wait, Omnius! I will not stand by and let true love fail to bring you and Twilight together!"

With that, she charged out her door, and dashed towards Twilight's library, barely feeling the weight of her saddlebags on her back.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Heh, 007 can suck it," I chortled, standing in front of my mirror at home, wearing my new suit.

In all honesty, it was a simple suit, just the normal black and white attire that's standard in all tuxedoes.

Then again, it was a tuxedo. A freaking TUXEDO. I barely get a chance to wear these bad boys, and I fully intend to take every advantage of it I can. Posing for a moment, I pointed my wing at the mirror like a gun, and said in my best Sean Connery voice, "The name's Traveler…Agent Traveler."

The sound of somepony knocking on my door snapped me out of my small flashback scene, and I flew down the stairs. "Coming!" I shouted.

Pulling open the door, I beheld a grey mare with a charcoal mane and tail standing outside, wearing a small, yet stylish, red bowtie, and in a light gown. She gave me a half smile, and said, "Mr. Cliff, I presume?"

"Indeed, Miss Octavia," I replied, bowing. "Would you like to come in? Or should we just head straight for the music hall?"

She flipped her long mane back, and glanced at the inside of my house. Seeing the bits and pieces of garbage that littered the ground, she gave me a lighthearted smirk. "No, I think we should head to the music hall. After all…we have a lot to do tonight."

"True," I nodded. "Alright, let's be off! Say, how did you get here anyways?"

"I rented a carriage. It's our ride to the hall as well," Octavia explained, gesturing at the small two-pony carriage parked just outside of my little area.

"Fancy. Welp, let's head out!" I opened the door to the carriage for her, and followed soon after, not noticing the pair of magenta eyes that were staring at me from the top of a cloud, hovering low in the sky.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Twilight sat on her pillow, giving Rarity the closest imitation she could of Omnius' patented (he actually had a patent paper for it), "NO!" stare. It basically consisted of making sure that your eyes and eyebrows were perfectly in sync with each other, so you could transfer the message of, "No way in Hell/Tartaraus/Nevernever is that gonna happen."

"But Twilight, you must!" The white unicorn pony shouted. "I know how you have those feelings for him, and we need to act fast if you are to-"

"No!" Twilight shouted. "There is no way that you're going to make me wear something like THAT just to get his attention!"

"But-"

"NO!"

At this moment, a cyan and rainbow colored blur shot through the window, halting mid-flight just before she would have collided with another bookshelf.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, confused. Rarity was distracted for a moment as well, surprised by the sudden appearance of their Pegasus friend. "What are you doing here?"

Dash spotted Twilight, and said, "Twilight, you're not gonna believe this! Omnius is-"

"Going out with Octavia," Twilight deadpanned. "I know."

"You do? Oh…well, uh, I guess I shouldn't have gotten the rest of the girls then," Rainbow Dash said, chuckling nervously.

"What do you mean, 'rest of the girls'?"

The three of them turned to the doorway to find that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack had just walked in, giving Twilight a mixture of sad and sympathetic looks. The unicorn groaned in exasperation, and turned her glare to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash…" Twilight said in a low, dangerous voice. "Why is everypony here?"

Pinkie bounced around Twilight, saying in a sing-song voice, "Because, silly, you like Omni, but he's out on a date with Octy! We wanted to cheer you up!"

"What? Why would I need cheering up? I'm fine!" Twilight said unconvincingly. "I don't care if he goes out with her!" She turned around, and started throwing books unceremoniously back onto their shelves.

"Twilight, what were you reading?" Applejack asked, attempting to look over the bookworm's shoulder.

"Nothing!"

Applejack scowled, and snatched one of the books from off of the shelf. She raised an eyebrow, and said, "Twi…if yer not carin' if he's dating somepony else, then why do you have a book that's about telling somepony that you care about 'em?"

Twilight blushed furiously, and used her magic to take the book back. Shoving it back onto the shelf, she said, "No reason! I just hadn't read it yet, and I wanted to-"

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy softly said. "Maybe you should just tell him. I mean, would it really be that hard?"

Trembling visibly, Twilight kept her face to the bookshelf, and attempted to feign an interest in organizing her books.

She didn't fool anypony.

"Twilight, it's alright," Fluttershy continued. "I'm sure that he feels the same way about you."

Twilight remained silent, but she stopped "organizing" her books. She sniffed once, before she turned and gave Fluttershy a small smile. Giving the animal loving Pegasus a quick hug, she said, "Thank you."

After a quick group hug, the girls all started chatting, glad that they were able to help Twilight get her mind off of the situation…that is, until Pinkie had a question.

And when Pinkie has a question, is she gonna ask it?

"What do you think he and Octy are doing?" She asked, putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

"Ah bet Omnius is makin' a fool outta both of them somehow!" Applejack chuckled, imagining the look on that musical mare's face if Omnius were to pull his harmonica out and just start playing it.

"Most definitely," Rarity nodded. "Can you imagine him finding out that there isn't any soda wherever he is?"

They all shared a laugh at that, imagining him holding his hooves to the sky, and screaming in an overly dramatic fashion. Knowing Omnius, that would probably be exactly what he would do.

"No, no!" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "He's probably trying to tell jokes to some of those snooty upper-class pony jerks!"

"Rainbow!"

"What? You met them, so you can't deny it!"

"Twilight, what do you think?" Fluttershy asked, not wanting Rainbow Dash and Rarity to start fighting with each other."

The lavender unicorn hesitated, trying to think of an answer. She tried to think of something funny, but in the end, she just sighed. "I don't want to admit it, but…he's probably making sure that they have a good time."

"What? Are you serious?" Dash asked, rolling her eyes.

"It's true though," Twilight lifted her head up, and stared out the window. "He might make a fool out of himself, but he'd never try to make anyone of his friends look like that. He cares about them too much."

"I suppose that's true…" Fluttershy admitted.

"And not only that, but if he likes Octavia, then that means that he'll-"

"What are you girls talking about?" A new voice asked without warning.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"No, really, what're you talking about?" I asked, closing the library door behind me.

"Omnius?" Rarity half-shouted in surprise. "W-what are you doing here?"

I smiled widely, and said, "I've got some good news, and I need ponies to share it with!"

"Oh…I take it your date with Octavia went well then?" Twilight said, somewhat sadly.

"Date?" I repeated.

"That is typically what they call it when two ponies who like each other spend a night together," Rarity spat.

"I wasn't- WAIT, WHAT?" I shouted, shaking my head, and staring at Rarity with wide eyes. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'LIKE EACH OTHER'?"

"Hold on, now," Applejack said, "Didn't you just go out with Octavia?"

"Yes! To compose music!" I shook my head again, and at their confused looks, explained, "Look, Octavia is a fan of Treble Cliff, my MUSICIAN NAME."

"…So you WERE going out with her?" Pinkie asked.

"NO! I asked her if she'd be willing to perform one of my pieces, and tonight was the actual concert for it! It's normally good manners for the composer to appear alongside the musician, or at least to me it is!" I was a little surprised. Jeez, I didn't mean that we were dating at all! These ponies…

"But you said she had excellent tastes!"

"In music!"

All of the ponies let out a sigh of relief, and I had to face-hoof them. "Honestly," I muttered.

"Well, if you don't like Octavia," Pinkie started, before giving me a huge smile, and asking, "Then what about Twilight?"

"…Beg pardon?"

Pinkie bounced behind me, and giggled again, saying, "You heard me! Weeeeellll? Do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya?"

"Come on, Pinkie, I heard you the first time. Now if you excuse me, I have to go and-"

"Why do you keep avoiding the topic?" Twilight suddenly said, getting up and staring at me angrily.

Oh no…Oh no oh no oh no.

"Look, I jus-" I tried, only to feel myself get forced against the wall by Twilight's magic.

"No! Answer me right now: Do you care about me, or not?" Twilight shouted, pressing me against the bookshelf. I tried to move, but the sheer strength of her magic kept me pinned, unable to even twitch.

"I do! You're my friend!" I said, trying one last desperate attempt to delay the inevitable.

"No, not like that! I mean…" Here, she hesitated, as she attempted to gather her courage. "Do you…love me?"

I remained silent. It was as I feared, and it was something I didn't want to happen. My heart waged a silent war with itself, as half of it leaped in joy at hearing the prospect that she did love me, while the other half plummeted, knowing that now I would have to do something…horrible.

"Well?" She said, while the rest of the girls watched in silence.

"…Twilight, I can't love you."

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 4:  
__Loveless, Lifeless, & Heartless_

_ "Twilight, I'm sorry…I don't love you. And if you feel that way about me, it's best if we never speak to each other again…"_

_ "…"_

_ "I'm sorry."_

_ "GET BACK HERE! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HURT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!"_


	5. Loveless, Lifeless, & Heartless

**Chapter 4:  
Loveless, Lifeless, & Heartless**

"You can't…what?" Twilight asked, with shock etched onto her face. Her concentration shattered, the magic glow around me disappeared, and I fell to the ground in a heap, taking a few books along with me. I picked myself up, and looked Twilight in the eyes.

I saw so much pain…I saw heartbreak, and sorrow.

"I can't love you," I repeated, forcing control over my voice and body in an attempt to prevent both from shaking.

Twilight fell to her haunches, and tears brimmed in her eyes.

"Why can't you!" Rainbow Dash asked hotly, taking an angry step forward.

"I can't…" Taking a cautious step backwards, I swallowed nervously, and added, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry!" Applejack shouted. "That ain't good enough! Y'all need to tell us why you can't!"

"No, it's-"

"Is it because she's not good enough for you? Hm? Is that it?" Rarity asked, glaring at me furiously.

"Of course not, if anything I'm n-"

"Oh, I get it!" Rarity continued, refusing to let me speak. "You just can't love her because you're not truly the same species!"

That comment. That comment right there. It made me snap. All of the stress, worry, and sorrow came pouring out, and I gave Rarity a quiet glare. She winced, and stumbled back a step, surprised by how many emotions she could see in my eyes.

"Do you really think that is the reason?" I whispered. "That I can't see past her exterior? No, trust me, if that was the case, I would get over it in a heartbeat."

"Then why?" Twilight asked, her voice cracking. "Why?"

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and said, "Because…I'm The Traveler."

This silenced everypony. You could feel the shock, and disbelief in the air. Shock, because they never thought I would say that as if it were a curse, and disbelief, because it didn't make any sense…yet. I let out a small, rueful smile, and continued. "All because of that one, little fact, I can't love anyone."

"But…how?" Pinkie asked, extremely confused.

"I'll get the obvious one out of the way first: I'm immortal. I can't die, and I am literally one of the only beings that will live for all of eternity and beyond that," I said. "But that's not the main reason. No, if that were the only problem, it would be nothing."

I opened my eyes, and gazed at them all. I had prepared this rant a long while ago, just in case such an occasion would arise where I would have to do something like this…

Something that I would hate myself for doing.

"I am The Traveler. I Travel across all of time, space, matter, and all of the realities and dreams. All. Of them. Have you ever wondered what would happen if Twilight were, say, a Pegasus? Well out there, in another world, that's true. In another world, she might be a human, or a dragon. In another world, she might be evil."

"What does that have to-" Rainbow started, but my patience was already at the breaking point.

"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" I roared. She flinched, and I kept going. "It's not a matter of IF I'll meet those alternate Twilight's, it's a matter of WHEN I'll meet them! What will happen when I meet a Twilight that is evil, and bent on conquering Equestria?" I asked, pacing wildly around the room. "Would my love for her make me throw away all of my beliefs, and join her? Just to make sure she's happy?

"And what would happen when I meet a Twilight who has fallen for another? Would I try to take her for myself?" I pointed out. "Do you remember that Pegasus who came here once, Purple Blaze? In his world, you were married and with child! How do you think I would take that if I loved you?"

Continued my rant, I asked them all, in an angry voice, "And what would happen if I met a Twilight that was destined to die, and she did so right in front of me?"

I whirled around, and shouted, "IT WOULD BE THE SAME DISASTER THAT HAPPENED WITH JENNA, ALL OVER AGAIN! I would lose all control, and go into a Dark Aura of some kind, slaughtering all who were foolish enough to get in my way!"

"Then why did you fall in love with Jenna?" Rarity tried.

"Because, I didn't think of these questions then! I didn't think of these at all, until after she died! Now I have to suffer with the idea that I'll someday meet a Jenna that is forced to be burned at the stake, or maybe be hanged for treason!" I cried. Stopping, and taking a calming breath to collect my thoughts, I said in a quieter voice, "I will not say that I regret the time I spent with her. I am not foolish enough to do such a thing."

I wish I could have stopped right then and there. But I still had one more thing I needed to mention: "Twilight, even then, what would happen if both of us went to another world, and I ended up getting so badly hurt that I would have to return to a home world to recover. What about you though? You'd be stuck on that same world, without knowing if I'd be able to come back for you in just a few moments, or in just a few YEARS. I don't want to have to put anypony, or anypony, through that.

"That also brings up just one more little detail…Twilight, I can't ask you to give up this entire life that you have here, your friends, and your family, just so you would be able to come with me. You know I couldn't stay, because I'm needed on other worlds! Not just this one!"

Tears were pouring down Twilight's face, and my heart ached to see her cry. Right then, I wanted nothing more than to hug her close to me, and to tell her it would be alright. I wanted to hold her in my arms, and say how she meant the worlds to me.

But I couldn't do that…not if I wanted her to stay safe.

I had to break her heart.

"Twilight, I'm sorry…" My voice faltered, but I then thought to myself, _Think of her future…she still has a life to live. _Steeling my resolve, I said in a low, but clear voice, "I don't love you. And if you feel that way about me, it's best if we never speak to each other again."

The lavender unicorn, beautiful even in human standards…started sobbing. She shut her eyes, and turned away from me, tears rapidly speeding down her face. Every whimper she let out stabbed my heart like a knife, and it took every ounce of self-control that I had to not run to her. Instead, I turned around, and walked out the door.

As I unfurled my wings, I glanced over my shoulder, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Just…get out, Omnius," Applejack said in a low, bitter voice.

Uh-huh. I knew this was coming: If I broke their friend's heart, then I pretty much forsook their friendship as well. It cut me even deeper, but if that's what it took to keep Twilight safe…so be it. Flapping my wings, I took off into the night sky, with Luna's moon watching me in an almost sympathetic gaze.

I was almost half-way to my house when I heard an angry, fury filled voice shout out, "GET BACK HERE! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HURT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!"

Rainbow Dash. Of course, the Element of Loyalty would want to break me for breaking her friend.

I flapped my wings, not daring to look behind me to see if she was catching up. Pushing myself as fast as I could go, I dived towards the forest, hoping that I could maneuver quickly enough through the trees to lose her. As I ducked, and rolled through the branches, I felt somepony's hooves nearly grasp my tail, followed by the sound of, "Darn it!"

Finally, I pulled my wings into my body, and crashed into the ground, narrowly avoiding any trees and bushes, while Dash sped ahead, unknowingly getting farther and farther away from me.

I stayed on the ground for a few more minutes, barely even breathing, paranoid that Dash would turn around and spot me. However, luck was finally on my side, and she never once looked back.

Phew. Well, there's one crisis averted.

As if that were luck's cue to exit my life, it started to downpour, almost instantly drenching me in a torrent of rainwater. I sighed, and said to myself, "Yeah, I probably deserve that…"

A few minutes later, I was flying through the forest, trying to clear my head. I didn't pay much attention to where I was going, and only a small part of me recognized that I was flying near the cliff where Applejack had proven that she was worthy of being the Element of Honesty. A small smile flickered across my lips, as I flew to the cliff face-

-and got struck by a massive bolt of lightning. I screamed in pain, and crashed into the huge rock wall, sending several boulders careening down the sides, while I plummeted to the ground, already unconscious before I hit the floor.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

The feeling of running water going across the back of my head slowly brought me back to my senses, and I let out a groan of discomfort, as I tried to roll over onto my stomach, only to be met with a heavy resistance from my wings. Glancing at them, I saw that heavy black boulders were on top of them, pinning me to the ground. Not only that, but my lower back legs were also buried in rubble, and I got a fresh wave of pain sent through me every time I tried to move.

"…And of course, they're obsidian boulders," I muttered. "Great…"

Obsidian…I hate that stuff. You see, a long time ago, I had been taken prisoner by one of the evilest beings in all the multiverses, and he had known about my Traveling. So what he did, was he would torture me with weapons made out of obsidian, but only whenever I either tried to Travel, or summon one of my Auras. The torture would break my concentration, and…he psychologically trained me to think of obsidian as my kryptonite: I couldn't use any Auras, Travel, or shift back into my normal form.

Luckily, I still managed to escape, and it only affected me if it was touching me, or if I knew that it was one hundred percent obsidian. Anything else, and I could brush it off like a bit of dust.

Then again, that didn't help the fact that I was still trapped underneath a couple obsidian boulders, and that it felt like my legs were broken.

And the fact that there was now a small stream of water running underneath me, effectively stealing away my body heat. Oh, let's not forget the fact that I can't turn my head to even drink from the stream.

And while I might be immortal, that doesn't mean that I can't starve, or dehydrate, and be forced to return to another home world to recover.

Great…

But once again…I deserve it.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 5:  
__Isolation_

_ "…Jenna?"_

_ "Not exactly…just a figment of your imagination, really."_

_ "Oh great. I've officially gone crazy from the lack of water and food."_

_ *V*V*V*V_

_ "…Ye Gods and Goddesses…what have I done?"_


	6. Isolation

**Chapter 5:**

**Isolation**

I groaned in discomfort, and for the seventeenth time that day, I tried to roll over onto my stomach, in an attempt to dislodge the rock that was stabbing into my back. For the seventeenth time, the obsidian boulders on both of my wings prevented me from making barely any movement.

As if that weren't enough, the obsidian boulders on my wings were the ONLY boulders that were made of obsidian. Seriously, out of all the places in the Everfree forest to get struck by lightning, I just happened to get lucky, and get hit right next to the area with the only two boulders that could effectively make a prison for me.

For hours, I stared at the sky, in just enough discomfort to stay awake, while still feel tired at the same time. It was maddening. I couldn't move. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't quench my thirst. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that the sky changed color when it switched between night and day, I wouldn't have had any idea of how much time had passed.

Instead, I was left there, alone with my thoughts, and my guilt. Nothing was there to distract me from thinking about how much pain I had seen on Twilight's face, after I had told her that we should never speak to each other again. Over, and over again, my mind replayed for me those last few moments I had spent with her, and each time I saw it, I felt my guilt grow.

After two days of laying there, in that condition, I was exhausted. I wanted something to kill me, to send me off to another world to recover, if only to give my mind something else to focus on. For a moment, it seemed as if Fate had pitied me, and an old, battle-scarred manticore wandered into the little cliff/stream that I was trapped in.

The manticore approached me cautiously, sniffing the air, before it gave me a confused look.

"Well?" I snarled. "Come on. I'm easy prey…" When it didn't make any movements, I screamed at it, "COME ON! END IT!"

Shaking its mane, it gazed at me with a neutral expression, before silently padding away, scorpion tail glistening in the light of the sunset.

"NO! GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT FINISHED YET!" I roared, trying to move again, tearing open numerous small cuts along my wings. "JUST END IT!"

Angrily, I thrashed about, once again attempting to remove my wings from the boulders, but to no avail. I shook my head wildly from side to side, splashing up water into the air, before my glasses finally fell off, and were swept into the stream, slowly being carried away by the water.

"OH GREAT!" I shouted. "Now I can barely see anything, besides those damn boulders! GREAT!"

I slammed my head back into the ground, and tried to resign myself to finally falling asleep.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

The sun had risen three more times, and no more monsters from the forest had stumbled onto my little prison. I guessed that I was on my fourth day of going without food, or water, and I barely had the strength to raise my hoof up off the ground. I was also finally starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation, and my emotions were wildly out of control.

One moment, I would be totally consumed with guilt, and feel as if I were drowning in the feeling of my own inadequacy, haunted by the image of Twilight's pain. Other times, I was enraged. I wanted to die, but nothing would come up and try to end me.

Right about then, I think the boredom, hunger, and thirst, finally made my brain snap, and I started to see…things.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted a pale white figure walk towards me. In my exhaustion, I couldn't even turn my head to look at it. When the figure leaned over me, my eyes widened in shock, as the figure lowered the hood that hid her face from view, revealing...

"…Jenna?" I wheezed, squinting at the figure standing above me.

"Not exactly," she said, smiling sadly at me. "Just a figment of your imagination, really."

"Oh great, I've officially gone crazy from the lack of water and food," I groaned. "Well, what are you here to haunt me about?"

She kneeled on the ground next to me, and for a long while, she was silent, as she tried to find the right words to use. In the end, she said, "First, before I say anything, I want you to know that I am a manifestation of things that you know. Okay?"

"Okay…" I said hesitantly. What is my mind doing to me?

"…Alright," She stated. Taking a deep breath, as if to reassure herself, she asked me, "What do you remember about the Shadow-Stalkers?"

I closed my eyes, and struggled to bring my scattered thoughts together into a coherent form. "Uh…Torrentican, Traveler of Evil, makes them…they're his form of minions…" I mumbled.

"What does he make them from?"

I let out a deep sigh, and kept up the mental work, glad for something to distract me from my guilt, if only temporarily. "Typically made from Dark Magic, occasionally some spirit binding, and he always includes some form of emotions…mostly anger, rage, or hatred. Normally you can tell how he made it by the color they bleed…black equals hatred, red-orange means anger…and they can take the form of anything he wants, although he makes them for a specific purpose each time, namely killing me, or others."

"Now what do you remember about the ones that look like humans?"

Head throbbing dully, I swallowed nervously. Why was she asking me about all of this? "They are normally the most complicated, but they can typically perform some of the more complicated magics, like force-fields, and mind altering spells. I've had a theory that even though he normally only makes them male, that he has the potential to make female ones too."

"Okay…this will be the hardest question for you to answer," Jenna said, her voice cracking slightly. "What do you know about my past?"

"…Uh…crap…" This is awkward. But okay, it's just a manifestation of my subconscious. I've just gotta answer truthfully. Besides, I've already lost Twilight. And the rest of my friends. I wouldn't be surprised if Celestia was pissed off at me. I don't really have much else to lose. "Asides from the fact that you studied extensively in healing magic, and had a dark wizard as a teacher, whom you rebelled against, not much," I admitted. Almost as an afterthought, I added, "I was planning on asking you more about it after the…fiasco at The Lord of The Land's castle, but…"

She nodded. "I died. Now, what color was my blood?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Answer it!" She said sternly.

"Okay, okay…" I muttered. "Red, wasn't it? No big deal there."

"When a shadow-stalker bleeds, red means what?"

"Um…now that you mention it, I've never seen a shadow-stalker bleed that color," I confessed. "It's always been something slightly out of the ordinary."

"Omnius…Nathan…" Jenna said, almost sorrowfully. "Connect the pieces. And remember: What happened to my body after you went into The Dark Aura?"

…Barely any past that she would explain to me…healing magic taught by a dark wizard…somehow, she knew almost as much about shadow-stalkers as I did, but I had barely told her anything about them…

…

…

…

"No," I said, my eyes widening. "That's impossible. He couldn't ever do something like that!"

"Nathan…" Jenna hesitated, a tear rolling down her cheek, before she continued. "Haven't you wondered why you haven't seen an alternate reality version of me, when supposedly the only three that have no other versions of themselves are you, and the rest of the Travelers?"

"You're telling me that…" I choked up, and coughed slightly to clear my throat. "You're a shadow-stalker?"

"Was. I was a shadow-stalker. You've known it all along," Jenna said, bowing her head low in shame. "Torrentican created me for one simple purpose. To trigger your Dark Aura, and cause you as much harm as possible…I was supposed to betray you…but I couldn't bring myself to do so."

My heart felt as if it were being shattered. Everything I had thought real, between Jenna and I, was fake. It was all planned from the start, by Torrentican. "But…when you died, why was I able to bring you back to life?" I asked desperately, trying to find some semblance of reality.

"The Gods and Goddesses of Good felt pity for me, and for you as well," she said, staring at the ground next to her. "They decided that I had earned a soul, so they saved my essence, and allowed me to return for one last week with you.

Welp. I guess I shouldn't take this that badly then. If what she says is true, then she's just saying stuff that I should already know. I should be fine with this. Hell, I should be happy that I don't need to feel guilty for falling in love with another.

But then again, there are a lot of things that I should do.

"So everything between us…that was a lie?" I whispered, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"No, never believe that," she quickly said. "I only wanted you to know the truth."

"But why? Why now, of all times?" I half-shouted in a mixture of anger, sorrow, and regret.

"Because: I need you to remember the promise you made to me, on the last night we spent together…and because she needs you," Jenna stated simply, before fading away into the night.

For a long while, I stared at where she had been, and thought about what she had said. The promise I had made to her…would I ever forget?

"I promised that I would find love again," I said softly, closing my eyes. "But I thought she meant like the love of a family…and what does she mean by…oh no."

Memories rapidly rushed through my mind, telling me what my heart had known all along.

_Meeting her at Sweet Apple Acres, and how worried she was about an impending disaster…_

_ Offering to help her find a way to stop Nightmare Moon…_

_ Naming my first Unicorn Spell after her…_

_ The rage I felt when I saw how Discord had made her cry a single, heartbroken tear…_

_ The warmth of her hug when I returned to Equestria…_

"Ye Gods and Goddesses," I lamented, weeping openly. "What have I done?"

Despite how much I had tried to fight it, despite all of the reasons I couldn't love her, despite everything I've said and done, it was inevitable. I couldn't deny it, no more than I could deny being The Eternal Traveler of Good.

Twilight Sparkle, one of my closest friends, and one of the most proficient magic users I had ever had the fortune to meet, and bearer of the Element of Magic…

Had just had her heart crushed by me.

And now? I was just beginning to realize…

Everything I had said before flying away…

It was a complete lie.

"Twilight…I'm so sorry…" I whispered, the wind carrying my apology away from me, and through the forest.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Back in Ponyville, a certain unicorn rolled over restlessly in her sleep, whimpering as she had a nightmare. Her small, draconic assistant was worried for her. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get her to wake up.

Just as he started to consider writing the Princess a letter to ask her what he should do, she suddenly became quiet. Spike looked at her with concern, and was surprised to see that she had fell back into a peaceful slumber, her muscles visibly relaxed.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he crawled back into his bed, and pulled his blanket over himself. Drifting off to sleep, he thought he heard Twilight whisper, "I'll find you...don't worry."

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 6:  
__Gods Help Her_

_ "I love him. And he needs our help! I don't care what he said that day, it doesn't change anything about the way I feel about him!"_

_ "But he's probably on another world by now! And even if he isn't, how are you going to find him?"_

_ "I don't know…but there's GOT to be a way! There just has to be!"_


	7. Gods Help Her

**Chapter 6:  
Gods Help Her**

"Spike!" Twilight shouted, shooting out of her bed. The sun was just sending its early morning rays through the library windows, but that wasn't what had Twilight worried. She had just awoken from a dream where she had seen Nathan, trapped in a black, shining cage. Something in her heart told her that the dream was real, at least in the sense that Nathan was trapped somewhere…

Shaking her head, she dashed into her kitchen, where her assistant was dutifully cooking a mixture of eggs and potatoes in a frying pan. "Spike!" she shouted again, startling the baby dragon.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" Spike asked, looking away from the stove in concern.

"It's Nathan!" Twilight said, grabbing a saddlebag and tossing in a few seemingly random items. "He's in serious trouble, and he needs our help-"

"Nathan? You're still going to help him after what he did to you?" Spike scoffed, crossing his arms angrily. He aimed a pointed glare at Twilight, and added, "He broke your heart. I heard everything he said from upstairs! So why would you want to help him?"

Twilight's ears pressed down against her head, and she stared at a small speck of dust on the floor. "Because…" she said, closing her eyes.

"Because what?"

Suddenly, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "I love him! And he needs our help!" At Spike's shocked expression, she continued, saying, "And he needs our help! I don't care what he said that day, it doesn't change anything about the way I feel about him!"

"But he's probably on another world by now," he pointed out. "And even if he isn't, how are you going to find him?"

"I don't know," Twilight admitted. Her eyes then lit up in fierce determination, similar to whenever Rainbow Dash would train to join the Wonderbolts, and she said confidently, "But there's got to be a way! There just has to be!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Four hours later, and Twilight and Spike had searched the entire library for some sort of spell that would help them find Omnius. So far, they had found several tracking spells that would have done the trick…the only problem was, they needed something personal of his to make it work.

"No, we can't give up now!" Twilight said, reaching for another book with her magic.

Spike knocked it out of her grasp, and half-shouted, "Twilight, it's useless! We have nothing of his that can work, and his house has that weird security system of his! Unless you know how to get in there, then we've got no hopes of finding him.

Twilight glared at Spike, tears brimming in her eyes, and he stepped back a little in fear. He had never seen her look this desperate and angry. He swallowed nervously, and added, "B-but maybe we can look for him the old fashioned way?"

She nodded, wiping at her face a little. "You're right, Spike, we can do that. Gather the rest of the girls, and let them know what's going on."

"What about you?" He asked, as he ran outside of the library.

"I'm going to start looking. I know he's out there somewhere, I can feel it!" She called out over her shoulder, as she ran towards the forest.

Twilight's mind was in turmoil. She didn't know why she still loved him, even though he had told her, as simply as he could, that he couldn't love her, and how it would never work out between them. So why was she running into a monster filled forest, on a hunch that had barely any basis in fact? Why was she going to possibly risk her own life to save him?

"Nathan!" she cried out, scanning the woods in front of her. "Nathan!"

While she was busy searching the forest, Spike had been running his scaly tail off, and he told the others what Twilight was doing. Reluctantly, they had agreed to help, if only to let Twilight know that it was pointless.

Well, almost all of them thought it was pointless. As they split into teams, Fluttershy pulled Pinkie aside, and asked her, "Pinkie…are you still mad at Omnius?"

She frowned, and said, "Nope! I actually feel pretty sorry for him!"

"You do?" Fluttershy asked, more than a little surprised.

"Well sure! Look at him! He goes around, helping others so much, that he's seen a lot of people and ponies get hurt!" She said, poking her head into a tree, in an attempt to see if Omnius was hiding in there. "And there's that big meanie Torrentican! Look at all the stuff he puts Omni through!"

"Oh, good, I'm not the only one who thought about that," Fluttershy said, sighing in relief. "I only thought about those last night…I don't think Applejack and Rainbow Dash have gotten over it yet though. I hope they aren't too mad."

**XHXHXHXHXHX**

"Ooh, I hope he's not hurt," Dash said, scanning the skies while Applejack ran beneath her.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want anything getting to him before I do!" She snarled, punching her hooves together. "When I find him, I'm gonna pulverize him!"

"Well, don' get too excited. I wanna teach him a thing or too 'bout hurtin' mah friends," Applejack agreed, bucking a tree next to her for emphasis. "Now then, where'd you last see 'im?"

Rainbow Dash scowled, and scanned the trees around her, trying to recall the night he had fled…

"Let's see…it was right about here!" She said, pointing a hoof to the ground where Omnius had crashed to avoid her. "I would've caught him, if, uh, there hadn't been an Owl stuck in a tree!" She said, blushing profusely, not wanting to let her friends know that he had accidentally outmaneuvered her.

"An Owl? Dash, you know those tend to live in trees, right?" AJ deadpanned, not being fooled for a second.

Dash rolled her eyes, and said, "Uh, yeah, I knew that! But its talons were stuck in the branch! Anyways, I go and help it in ten seconds flat, but when I get back, he disappears. "

"Hmm…alright, Dash, sure," Applejack said, choosing not to wound Rainbow's pride. "But where do you suppose he is?"

"I don't know, and I don't care! I just want to find him, and beat him into next Tuesday!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

**Meanwhile, Spike was gushing over Rarity, not listening at all, so we're just gonna move on to Twilight again.**

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Twilight raced through the Everfree forest, calling out Nathan's name repeatedly. Finally, she had to stop running, and give her voice a rest. She had been searching for what must have been hours, screaming for her…friend?

"Are we friends?" Twilight whispered to herself, as she sat down by a small river. She stared at the reflection in the water, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. For an instant, instead of her reflection, she could see Nathan's, his dark brown eyes hiding something that had intrigued her since the first day they had met…

His eyes held something to them, something that everyone could notice to varying degrees. In his eyes, you could see laughter, joy, and happiness on the surface of them…but if you looked deeper, you would find the wisdom only gained from an extremely long life, and experiences that would amaze even the most intrepid of explorers and adventurers. Twilight saw something else though…something that no one else had seen in them.

Fear.

She looked into his eyes, and saw that he was afraid. Not just for his friends either. Even though a large part of that was his fear of something happening to them, there was another type of fear…

Fear for himself.

He was afraid of becoming too powerful, and too ambitious. He didn't want to become a God, even though he fully knew that he held the potential to become one, if he so desired. Every waking moment of his life, he had to worry about being too powerful, and worry about what would happen if he snapped, and started using that power for all the wrong reasons.

He needed an anchor…he needed something to hold him in place, so that his memories, along with the lessons he's learned, wouldn't be swept away…

Twilight bowed her head, and whispered softly, "Um…Gods and Goddesses of Good? I know that Nathan is the one who prays to you all, but…Please, if you can hear me, help me find him…"

A tear rolled down her cheek, and fell into the water, before being swept away by the current. She sniffed, and turned to move on…

A glimmer of light on the surface of the river caught Twilight's attention, and she trotted over to it to investigate. Her eyes widened in amazement, as she used her magic to gingerly raise a pair of thick, black rimmed glasses out of the water. The frame was slightly scratched, and the left side had a long crack running along the edge of it…but they were unmistakably-

"Nathan's glasses," Twilight whispered. She looked up the river, where the flow was coming from, hope lighting up her face.

Shoving them into her saddlebags, she galloped up the river, following the opposite direction the water was coming from. She ran up the hill, her bags gently thudding into her sides, and she frantically searched the area around her. A small part of her recognized the place as the cliff where she had nearly plummeted to her doom, before AJ and the others had saved her.

She felt her eyes drawn to a small rockslide that must have happened a few days ago. Then, she saw…him.

She saw Nathan lying in the river, his wings and part of his lower legs covered in boulders.

"Nathan!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 7:  
Heart to Heart_

_ "…I love you…"_


	8. Heart To Heart

**Chapter 7:**

**Heart to Heart**

"Twilight?" I called out weakly, seeing the purple blur in my vision. I tried to roll my body towards her, only to be met by the resistance of the obsidian boulder tearing into my wings, and a wall of pain. Lifting my head, I squinted and the blur came into focus, forming the shape of Twilight's body.

"Nathan!" she cried, galloping towards me, her hooves splashing some water onto my face. As she reached me, I felt my strength suddenly fail, and my head dropped into the small river again, sending yet another wave of cold through me. I shivered uncontrollably, and Twilight knelt in the water next to me, her eyes taking in the small avalanche that kept me pinned to the ground.

[Right now, I'd suggest listening to "Sora's Sacrifice" ~ Kingdom Hearts]

I gave her a tired smile, and said, "This is one of my better hallucinations, isn't it?"

Twilight looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she said, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here! Just-"

"Wait, Twi," I interrupted. "I know you're just another figment of my imagination…but…please, just let me say something."

"Nate…"

I once again struggled to lift my head off of the ground, and forced myself to meet her beautiful violet orbs. Putting as much strength as I could into my words, I said, "I was wrong." At her look of surprise, I continued, not wanting to lose this precious chance I had to make peace with myself. "I never should have said that I didn't love you. I never should have hurt you like that."

Tears flowed out of her eyes, and she said, "Please, Nathan, you're weak. Just wait a second, and I'll-"

"I know I'm going to probably die here, and I'll have to go to another world, and not see you again for who knows how long, but I wanted to let you know…" I swallowed, tears brimming in my own eyes. "That even though there are endless Twilight's, some good and some bad, that you…you are my Twilight. You are the Twilight I want to see at the beginning of each new day, and the Twilight I want to see at the end of each night."

My head fell to the ground again, and Twilight gasped in shock. "I'll get you out of there! Please, just stay with me!" She shouted, the rocks around me starting to glow, as she struggled to lift them. She groaned in effort, pouring all that she could into her magic, but the rocks stayed where they were, their collective weight too much for her to handle.

"It's okay!" Twilight said. "I'll let the others know you're here!" She closed her eyes, and sent out a series of bright purple flares into the sky, lighting up the small canyon-like area with a harsh light that could be seen for miles. "Now we just have to wait, and we can dig you out," she said, lying in the water next to me.

I shook my head, and whispered, "I'm not sure I'll last that long…" I felt my conscious start fading, and darkness crept into the edge of my vision. With one final effort, I looked at Twilight, and forced my lips to form the three words I should have said long ago…

"I love you…"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Twilight's heart stopped when she heard him say those words. Her eyes widened, and she saw his eyes close, and his body seemed to loosen up, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

"No…please, don't be dead, please don't!" She felt a pressure build up in her chest, and she shook her head wildly. "No! Nathan!" Forcing her eyes shut, she tried lifting the rocks again, but to no avail.

She shook her head again, and poured more magic into the rocks. Memories started to race through her mind, as she struggled against the boulders.

_Meeting him for the first time at Sweet Apple Acres…_

_ Him holding off Nightmare Moon while she attempted to summon the sixth Element of Harmony…_

_ The Running of The Leaves, where they both tied for fifth place…_

_ The warmth of the sunset on Hearts and Hooves day…_

Her eyes shot open suddenly, glowing a fierce, blazing white, and she felt the pressure in her chest increase suddenly, making her feel as if she would burst if she didn't release it. Grasping the boulders with her magic, she flung them all aside as if they were nothing more than pebbles, freeing Nathan from his prison.

As soon as they were gone, her eyes returned to normal, and ignoring the weariness she felt, she tossed herself upon his unmoving body, and desperately pressed her ear against his chest, listening and straining her senses to hear…

_Thump. Ba-thump._

It was faint, but it was still unmistakably there: The sound of his heartbeat. He wasn't dead…

[Music Over.]

She smiled, tears still flowing out of her eyes, and she finally realized how cold he felt against her fur. Pushing him out of the stream for the first time in days, she moved his still body onto dryer land, and used her magic to grab some small chunks of wood that were untouched by water. Setting it all into a small pile next to Nathan, she lit it up into a small fire, illuminating the area with a warm, orange glow.

That taken care of, she set her saddlebags onto the ground, and started pulling out some of the items she had thought to bring with her. She tossed a small blanket over Nathan, and pushed him closer to the fire. After that, she filled a small canteen with water, knowing that due to the position he had been trapped in, he hadn't been able to drink in what must have been days.

As soon as she was done setting up camp, she lay down next to him, and smiled gently. Her heart swelled, as she recalled the words that he had spoken to her. Tipping his head up slightly, she brought the canteen to his lips, and poured water into his mouth. She blushed slightly, glad that he wasn't awake to see this.

As soon as the canteen was empty, she set her head down on the ground, and thought that she would rest her eyelids for a moment.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

When I finally opened my eyes, I thought that I would be on another world, back in my human form.

Instead, I found myself lying in front of a small fire, finally feeling dry after five days of lying in the river. I still felt weaker than a child, but it was such a relief to finally start to feel somewhat warm again.

As I came fully into consciousness, I started to shiver slightly, and I looked around. The last thing I remembered…

"You're awake," Twilight said from my side. I looked over, and was relieved to see that she was close enough that I could see her without my glasses. She tried to smile, but her lips couldn't seem to form the right shape.

"So what happened before…that wasn't an illusion?" Please, don't let it be just a dream…

"…Did you really mean it when you said that you loved me?" Twilight asked in a small voice, her eyes gazing into mine.

"I do," I stated. "Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's faithful student, and bearer of the Element of Magic…I love you."

She smiled this time, causing my heart to skip a few beats. Her eyes glowing in the firelight, she said, "I love you too."

We both stared at each other's eyes for a moment longer, before I felt a sudden impulse…Deciding to trust my heart on this one, I leaned forward, and pressed my lips against hers.

A look of surprise flashed across her face, before she closed her eyes, and returned the kiss, softly pushing against me. For a few minutes, we sat there, kissing each other, until I started to shiver violently.

"Nathan? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

I nodded, and managed to stutter out, "J-j-just c-cold."

She nodded, and moved closer to my side, pressing her body against mine. Using her magic, she lifted up a small blanket I hadn't noticed before, and she threw it over the two of us, snuggling closer to me as she did so. "There," she said as she finally finished. "Better?"

"Better," I replied, lifting a tattered wing up, and using it to pull her even closer to me. Together, we both sat with each other, staring into the fire that Twilight had created, and after a few minutes, I asked, "Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"When did you start falling for me?" This probably isn't something you ask someone (or somepony) when you just confess your love, but…it's something I had to know.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, before she smiled, and said, "I'm not sure. I think around the time that you offered to help me try and study a way to banish Nightmare Moon."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. You were the only one who took me seriously at first, and then after that, when you tried to stop her from escaping…" She closed her eyes, and buried her head underneath my chin. "You risked your life for us. You hardly knew us, yet you still did that."

"Wow…I guess it took us long enough to get to this point," I chuckled, nuzzling her in return.

"Mhm," she answered, happy to just be with me. "Now…when did you fall in love with me?"

I scratched my beard with a free hoof, and considered the answer. "I guess…since I first met you. I was just in denial because of…well, yeah."

"...Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," I joked.

She shook her head, before saying, "What happens now?"

How do you respond to that? How do you say to the one you love that you have no idea of what will come? It's simple, actually.

You tell the truth.

"I don't know," I said. I stared into the fire, and added, "I don't know if I'll be able to stay here with you, or if I'll have to leave the next day. And if I do leave, I don't know if I'll be back in a few days, or in a few months."

Twilight nodded, already having guessed as much. Still, she smiled, and said, "I guess it doesn't matter now. We're still together, aren't we?"

"Yeah…we are." I yawned, and felt my eyelids grow heavy.

"Nathan, go to sleep. You need to rest, after all. I'll wake you up when the others get here," Twilight said, softly brushing through my mane with her hoof.

"I don't want to…I don't want to miss a moment of this," I wearily replied.

"Nate," she sighed. "I'll be right here. Don't worry. I'm not leaving you."

I grinned tiredly, and she kissed my cheek. "I think I could get used to this," I muttered.

She rolled her eyes, and told me to go to sleep.

Well, I can't exactly say no to her, now can I?

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

_Preview of Chapter 8:_

_Together_

_ "Luna…I have a proposition."_

_ "What is thine idea?"_

_ "I believe it is time we gave Omnius…a reward."_

_ "So, think Dash will be happy to see that we're-"_

_ SMACK!_

_ "OW!"_


	9. Together

**Chapter 8:**

**Together**

Yawning, I cracked open my eyes to see that the sun had risen well up into the sky, where it bathed the area around me in the soft glow of morning. For a moment, I panicked, thinking that I was still trapped underneath the boulders, until I felt the warmth of Twilight's body pressed against mine. Sighing in relief, I kissed Twilight's forehead, still not believing that it was all real.

"Mmm…" Twilight stirred at my kiss, and opened her eyes blearily. She smiled, and wrapped her forehooves around me in a sleepy hug. "Good morning, Nathan."

"It certainly is," I replied, returning the hug. "Well, I imagine it is. The only thing I can really see right now is you. Then again, that's not really a bad thing."

"Oh! That reminds me," Twilight said, letting go of me for a moment, so she could rummage through her saddlebags. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she let out an, "Aha!" of triumph. She turned back to me, and to my amazement, she placed my glasses back onto my face.

"You found my glasses! But I thought that the river carried them away?" I said, happy, but confused.

"Well, I found them in the river. I guess we both just got lucky," she said, lifting the blanket off of herself. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," I answered, giving her a smile of my own. And then, as if it had a reputation for ruining the moment to uphold, my stomach growled-no, it ROARED ferociously. Seriously, I think I heard it echo slightly. Chuckling, I added, "Okay, maybe I'm hungry."

We both shared a laugh, and she opened her bag again, this time pulling out a few granola bars. "It's not much, but it should hold you over until we get home."

I took the bars quietly, and laughed quietly.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"You said 'home'," I stated. Biting into the bar, I chewed on it thoughtfully, while Twilight raised an eyebrow at me. Knowing that she would want an explanation, I said, "See, to me, home is where the heart is. That means that wherever my friends are, that's where home is. Now, though, I'm with you."

Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "That sounded really corny, you know that, right?"

"Oh definitely. It's the truth though."

I tore into another granola bar, while Twilight filled up a canteen with water from the nearby river, and sipped at it occasionally. Finally, when I got bored of the silence, I asked, "So…didn't you shoot out a flare or something last night?"

"I was actually just thinking about that," Twilight admitted. She looked up at the sky, a worried expression on her face. "The girls should have seen it, and they should have been here by now. I hope nothing has happened to them."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah…I don't want them getting hurt because I had to say something stupid."

I trembled slightly, and shook off the dark thoughts in my head. They didn't belong here, not in this moment. Not when Twilight is right here, at my side. In fact, she seemed to sense my thoughts, and she curled up next to me, and I wrapped a wing around her. The movement felt so natural, that it made me think that my Pegasus form was meant to do things like that. It still might have hurt my wings a bit to do that (okay, a lot!), but it was worth it to feel Twilight pressed against me.

The sound of twigs breaking reached my ears, and I quickly put myself between Twilight and the bushes where the noises were coming from, glaring as I did so. I might have been weaker than normal, but there was no way I would let anything try to hurt Twili-

"Twilight!" Suddenly, Spike and Rarity burst through the bushes, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie close behind them. Before I could react, they had crowded around the two of us, and were bombarding us with questions. I swayed slightly, the sudden noise after so much silence throwing me off, before Twilight took matters into her own hooves.

"Everypony! Please, calm down!" Twilight called out over the noise. "We're fine, there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, everything's good," I added, nodding in agreement.

Rarity frowned, as her eyes took in how Twilight was supporting me, and how there were two imprints in the ground where our blanket was still lying on the ground. Her eyes widened, and her lips curved into a knowing smile.

"What? Rarity? What are you smiling about?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Ooh! Did you just remember a funny joke? Because I remember one about a mule, and a griffin, and they walk into a bar where-"

"No, Pinkie darling, it's not that!" Rarity said, barely containing her joy. She then put her face up close to mine, and she said, "Are you two…?"

I chuckled, and pulled Twilight closer to me with one of my wings. "Does that answer your question?"

"Wha-ha-ha-ha!" Rarity laughed, clapping her hooves together in her excitement. "Oh, I just knew it! Why, you two fit each other so perfectly!"

"Congratulations," Fluttershy quietly said.

Pinkie on the other hoof, gasped overdramatically, and shot off into the forest, leaving a Pinkie-shaped cloud of smoke where she had been standing before. I shook my head, and decided not to worry about it.

"Hmph." Spike crossed his arms, and he shot me a fierce glare. "I can't believe you still helped him," he muttered to Twilight.

"Spike," Twilight said warningly.

I raised a hoof up to stop her, and said, "No, he's right. It doesn't matter why I did it, I still never should have done that. I nearly ruined my friendship with all of you, and I almost lost you. Spike has every right to be mad at me."

That surprised him, and he said, "Oh, uh…yeah! Just, um, don't do it again!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, and she lifted up a small scroll. "Spike, could you please send this to Princess Celestia?"

"What is it?" Spike and I both asked at the exact same time.

"It's a letter I wrote while you were sleeping, Nate," Twilight explained, while Spike burned the letter up in a puff of green fire. "Well…it's a friendship report, actually."

"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Just as I was about to ask Twilight what she had written, Fluttershy interrupted, and asked, "Um, if you don't mind, what happened last night? We were really worried about the both of you."

"Oh. Well, when I flew away from the library last night…"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHX**

Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, trying to enjoy a rare moment of peace. She had just gotten finished dealing with some of the more uptight and arrogant nobles of Canterlot, each of them wanting to complain about SOMETHING. Sometimes being the wise and kind ruler had its drawbacks. Not being able to use magic to silence them was one of them.

As she entertained thoughts of replacing Money Bags' mouth with a zipper, there was a brief flash of fire, and a scroll appeared, floating in front of her.

"Oh? It's a little early for a friendship report," Celestia mused, as she opened the scroll with her magic and scanned its contents. After she finished, she looked up, and called out to her guard, "Cancel all other meetings for today. I will be occupied with more important matters."

"As you wish, your highness."

With that, Celestia's horn glowed, and she teleported out of the throne room, and into the hall outside of Luna's quarters, still levitating the scroll in front of her. Before she could knock on the massive doors, they opened, revealing her sister, and ruler of the night.

"Sister?" Luna asked, rubbing her eyes wearily. "I was just having the most delightful dream…"

"Luna, please; Read this," Celestia said, giving the scroll to Luna.

Luna quickly read the contents of the scroll, and a happy smile lit up her face. "I had a feeling that this would happen eventually." Her smile disappeared, as she thought about all of the obstacles still in their way…

Luckily, it seemed that Celestia had already accounted for this.

"Luna," The sun princess started, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. "I have a proposition."

"What is thine idea?" Luna asked, momentarily slipping into her old accent for a moment.

"I believe it is time we gave Omnius…a reward." Celestia explained her idea to Luna, going over some of the touchier subjects with her sister.

"Tia…if we are to do this, we will have to get the other gods' approval," Luna stated.

"I know. But I feel confident that they will accept it…after all, it can be our way of making sure that Torrentican can't turn the tables on Omnius as easily," Celestia said, her eyes hardening as she remembered the many atrocities he had committed, and how she had discovered Jenna's true identity.

"You're right. Well, we mustn't wait any longer. Send out the message."

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"And then I heard you guys coming, and just…yeah," I finished, taking another swig of water. Twilight had helped me to explain what had happened, but I still had to tell them what it was like being trapped underneath those boulders.

"You mean Jenna…oh my," Fluttershy said, covering her mouth with her hoof. "Omnius, I'm so sorry…"

"Sans Souci. Besides, I've got Twilight," I replied, smiling.

Twilight blushed, but smacked the back of my head and said, "Stop saying cheesy lines!"

"It's not cheesy when they're true! Besides, who doesn't love cheese?"

We all shared another laugh, and I sat down, tearing into my seventh granola bar. "Wonder where Dash and AJ are."

"Well, they were searching the opposite side of the forest. They should be here momentarily," Rarity replied.

I nodded, satisfied with the answer for now. Looking from myself, and back to Twilight, I asked, "So, think Dash will be happy to see that we're-"

Without warning, a cyan colored blur shot out of the bushes, and I instinctively pushed Twilight to the side, and lowered my head to take the blow.

SMACK!

I felt myself get thrown to the ground, and the force of the attack sent me crashing into a nearby tree. "Ow," I stated, shaking stars out of my eyes. "Good to see you Rainbow. Your charges need some work."

"Well how 'bout my bucks?" A southern voice said from behind me.

"Ye Gods."

I tried to say something else, but a pair of orange hooves connected with my face, and the stars in my vision exploded, sending waves of agony throughout my skull. I fell onto the ground, and kept falling into darkness…

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

"Did anypony get the license plate of that freight train that hit me?" I groaned, feeling my mind slowly pull itself together. A dull ache pulsed through my head, and I had to force my eyes open just to see where I was.

Bad move.

"AH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!" I yelled, shutting my eyes again. I forgot that when I get headaches, my eyes become extremely sensitive to light. And I also forgot something else: "OW! Yelling hurts my head, okay, good to know!"

"Oh, he's awake! Again," I heard Twilight say from somewhere in the room.

"Omnius! Pardner, I am REALLY sorry I did that," Applejack's voice said. She sounded extremely apologetic, and she added, "I didn't stop ta think 'bout wah ya said those things, but Twi explained it to me."

"Oh…Sans Souci then," I said, once again daring to crack my eyes open. "Where are we?"

"You're back in my library." Suddenly, my head felt as if cold water had been poured down it, and my headache faded away. I opened my eyes fully, and saw that Twilight's eyes were just inches away from my own.

"I could get used to this," I grinned. I got up, picking myself up off of Twilight's bed (Get your mind out of the gutters!), and jumping to the floor. "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Downstairs," Twilight answered. "Come on, we don't want to miss the party."

"Party?"

I trotted down the stairs, with Twilight by my side, and Pinkie jumped out in front of me and yelled, "SURPRISE! Happy 'Stopped acting silly and decided to get together like everyone thought you should' party!"

"…Uh, wait, my what party?" I asked, before Pinkie shoved a cupcake into my mouth. I then decided to not question Pinkie's randomness, and instead enjoy the food. In front of us, ponies were crowded into the library, enjoying some of Pinkie's baked goods, and listening to some random music.

Yeah. I'm just gonna eat my cupcake now.

Why yes, I do have my priorities straight.

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

A few hours into the party, and I was back to my old self. Several cupcakes and soda drinks can do that for me. Oh, and Twister. I'm really good at Twister. Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh right!

Just as I finished what must have been my thirteenth cupcake, I felt a hoof tap my shoulder. Swallowing, I glanced behind me to see that Twilight was standing there, holding a small telescope.

"Can we go somewhere a little more…quiet?" She asked, looking pointedly at the night sky outside.

I took the hint, and nodded. My stomach growled at me again, and I turned back to the table to grab a tray of cookies. Balancing them on my head, I quickly followed Twilight outside, as we snuck away unnoticed by the crowd.

"Did you really have to bring those?" Twilight asked, giving me a small grin.

"Well…yeah, kinda."

She just rolled her eyes and took one of the cookies from the tray. As she bit into it, she also levitated another cookie into my mouth, saving me the trouble of trying to reach the tray.

"F'angs" I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

A few more minutes of walking later, and I realized that she was leading us back to the hill where we had spent Hearts and Hooves Day together.

"So, why'd you want to come out here?" I asked, looking at the night sky.

Twilight set up her telescope, and put her eye to it, adjusting a few knobs on it. "I got a letter from Princess Luna, saying that there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight! It should be happening in just a few minutes."

As she finished speaking, a meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a small trail of white light in its wake. Twilight gasped, and a huge smile lit up her face. I watched the sky with her, as more meteors shot across the sky, and I said, "Aren't you supposed to make a wish on a shooting star?"

"Who says I didn't?" Twilight asked, giving me a teasing smile. "What if I already got my wish?"

"What would that be?"

She nuzzled my side, and kissed me again. "Take a wild guess."

I chuckled, and returned the kiss happily. "Well, I'm still hoping my wish comes true."

"What did you wish for?"

"Can't say. It'd ruin it," I stated. "But so far it's going well."

We sat there, together, occasionally glancing into the telescope to get a better view of the falling stars. Every time Twilight would use the telescope, my eyes wouldn't be on the sky. They'd be on her. They'd be watching the stars in her eyes.

On a sudden impulse, I asked her, "Twilight, do you want to see the stars?"

"Aren't we watching them already?" She replied, a semi-confused look on her face.

I shook my head, and gestured at the sky, saying, "No, not like this! I mean…never mind, it's probably not a good idea anyways."

"Oh, I would actually like to hear it, Traveler."

Twilight and I jumped, and we turned to see that not only was Princess Celestia standing there, but so were Princess Luna and the rest of the girls. I swallowed nervously, and said wittily, "Uh, hi? Lovely weather we're having?"

Luna nodded, her eyes glued to the sky. "Indeed. I put a lot of effort into this night. After all, it is a special occasion."

"It shows," Twilight said.

"Special occasion?" I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm a little curious about that myself," Dash added.

Celestia smiled, and she turned to Twilight and I. "It is quite obvious that you two harbor deep feelings for one another, correct?"

We both nodded.

"But as Omnius can't stay, and his Traveling is random, you might be separated for quite some time, now wouldn't you? And Twilight has a life here…"

Again, we nodded.

"Therefore, after conversing with several Gods of Good, we have decided to do this…" Celestia and Luna's horns both glowed, and a beam of light shot out of them, hitting Twilight's horn. Her eyes started to glow, and a purple ray shot out, and connected with my chest.

For an instant, I felt like I was a part of Twilight. I could hear what she heard, and see what she saw. For a moment, I could feel the amount of raw, magical energy she held inside of her. Finally, the lights disappeared, leaving me drained.

"What…what just happened?" I panted, shaking my head.

"Twilight is now bound to your life," Luna stated. "As long as you both continue to care for one another, and as long as Omnius lives, so shall she."

My jaw dropped in shock. Twilight gasped, and she looked frantically between the two Alicorns. In awe, she started to say, "B-but that means that-"

"You now have part of the magic that makes Nathan who he is inside of you. You can learn any and all magic abilities, and are just as immortal as he is. Your only limits are that you cannot Travel by yourself, and…Nathan will explain the rest." Luna averted her gaze for a moment, but I was too happy to care.

"But…what about the random Traveling?" Twilight brought up. "What will happen if I'm gone for so long, that-"

"That is another gift: Whenever you leave, and return, you will always return to the point you were at five seconds after you left," Celestia said, smiling.

All of us sat there in shocked silence. This was…I mean…they just…

YE GODS AND GODDESSES!

"Princesses…Gods and Goddesses of Good…" I muttered. "Thank you…"

[Right now, I'd HIGHLY suggest listening to "Promise – Next New World" Mega man Zero 4]

Okay, that just leaves one thing I have to do. I hope I've hung out with the Doctor long enough to know how to do it properly.

"Twilight?" I asked, grabbing her shoulders. "Do you want to see them?"

"See what?"

"The stars! You know, stars, other worlds, mysteries that can be unseen, but believed in!" I replied. Gesturing a hoof at the stars above us, I said, "There are endless worlds out there, each one with countless moments to experience! And each of those moments has a story, waiting to for someone to hear them!"

Twilight swallowed nervously, and she hesitantly asked, "And…you want me to…see them with you?"

My heart fell slightly, and I said, "Well…yeah. If you want to. I mean, if you don't want to-"

She silenced me with another kiss, in front of everyone there, and she said, "Of course I will!"

I laughed in joy, my heart now soaring high into the sky. "Well, no sense in putting it off any longer! Want to go now?"

"Now? As in, now-now?"

"Duh! I've already got our bags packed!" I winked. "Pocket Dimensions! Can't go wrong with them!"

She thought about it for only a second, and then nodded. A frown crossed her face, and she asked in a small voice, "What's it going to be like?"

"What? Traveling?"

She nodded.

"Twilight…I'm going to tell you a secret. Well, I guess everyone here is gonna hear it, but not big deal." I leaned closer to her, and said, "Traveling is always how you picture it."

"Huh?"

"Exactly! You'll feel how you think you'll feel! AJ thought Traveling was like going down a tunnel, right?"

"It's true!" she called out, slightly annoyed.

"And I always picture it as a jump! Like I'm just taking one big leap of faith, and trusting in fate to take me where I'm needed!" I grinned sheepishly, and added, "It's why I'm always falling when I enter a new world."

"So…a leap of faith?" Twilight repeated.

"Yep." I held out a hoof to her, and said, "Don't worry about the fall though. I'll catch you."

She smiled, and accepted my hoof. "Live and Learn?" She said, quoting one of my many phrases.

"I love you so much right now," I replied. With that, I turned on the spot, waving goodbye to the others, Twilight waving as well, and shouted, out one phrase that summed up all of my feelings at that point. One phrase that expressed my love for Twilight, my endless thirst for knowledge and adventure, and my eternal fate, along with stating who I was with pride, and confidence.

"IT'S GOOD TO BE THE TRAVELER!"

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

As they disappeared, Celestia let out a knowing smile.

"What?" Pinkie asked her. "What's so funny?"

"I feel as if we have made things…even, for The Travelers again," she answered. "Torrentican has his Shadow-Stalkers, his own personal army. Neutra has her Disciples, her own secret organization. Now? Omnius has Twilight. His own light to guide him in the darkness to come."

"Whoa…that's kinda deep."

"Yes," Luna nodded. "He now has his Eternal Twilight."

**End of Story 1**


	10. Interesting Devolopments

**Story 2**

**Part I:**

**Interesting Developments**

"Hang on, Twilight!" I shouted, as we fell through the air.

She tightly grasped my throat as we fell, still not used to the sensation of Traveling (even though we must have done it about a dozen times). Then again, I'm not really complaining. It gives me a chance to get a strangle-hug from Twilight.

"And…" I flared out my win-Wait, I don't have wings. Why am I in earth pony form? "Um, Twilight?" I shouted, a hint of nervousness in my voice. "Think you could, oh, I dunno, teleport us to someplace somewhat safer?"

"What! Why can't you just-?"

"Wings are gone! Sorry!" I apologized, grinning sheepishly. "So! The ground is getting awfully close…"

I swear, even though it is damn near impossible to hear things when free falling from about a couple hundred feet in mid-air, even as a pony, I heard Twilight let loose an exasperated sigh. Before I could ask her what was wrong (other than the fact that we were plummeting at an alarming rate), her horn flashed, and I felt myself crash into the ground with a muffled WHUMP.

"Ow…Twilight, you okay?" I asked, as I peeled my face off of the ground, stars lightly dancing in front of my eyes. Apparently, she had teleported us closer to the ground, thus negating the damage caused by physics, and gravity.

She groaned lightly, and said, "Yes, I'm fine…Oh, my head hurts."

I frowned, and got up as soon as she had let go of my neck, and rolled onto the ground. Concerned, I glanced around, and then shifted into my human form once I saw that no one, or pony, was in the area. Placing a hand on her side, I felt her heart beat rapidly through her fur coat.

"You don't seem like you're fine," I commented, slinging my backpack off of my shoulders, and rummaging in it.

"No, really, I'm fine. I'm just tired," Twilight insisted, smiling at me.

"Twilight, you've pulled off crazier teleporting spells than that without breaking a sweat. Need I remind you about the Death Eaters?" I joked, pulling out a slightly dented tin canteen.

"That was an emergency!" she protested, accepting the canteen gratefully.

"Hey, I had a gun! I coulda handled them." I stretched out on the ground while Twilight drank from the canteen.

"Your revolver holds six rounds," Twilight pointed out.

"So?"

"There were twenty four of them! There was no way you could have gotten all of them," she insisted, giving me her best, 'It's highly illogical' look.

"Love you too," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

She giggled, and crawled over to me, laying her head on my chest. Together, we stared up at the crystal blue sky above us, and watched some of the clouds roll by. Birds softly chirped in the trees around us, and I let loose a content sigh.

"It's good to be home," Twilight murmured. "It feels like it's been forever since we've seen everypony…"

"Only been about five seconds if I remember," I muttered. My eyelids grew heavy, and I suppressed a yawn. The sudden fall, and then the rapid transformation had drained me a bit. Well, it doesn't help when the last world you went to involved you and your OP magic girlfriend (I still don't think that word fits her…) kicking ass on a near godlike level.

"Cthulhu…never wanna deal with HIM again," I sighed. Putting a hand on Twilight, I said, "A nap sounds pretty good right now. Care to join me?"

When Twilight's answer was to move herself closer to me, I nodded, and muttered, "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

**XHXHXHXHXHXHX**

The sound of Twilight groaning woke me up from my short nap…okay, I say it was short, but in reality, the sun had set, and stars were twinkling in the night sky. Looking at Twilight, I saw that her eyes were squeezed shut, and dots of sweat beaded her forehead. Worried, I put a hand on her forehead, and winced when I felt how hot it was. Oddly enough, it only felt like heat was coming from…_her horn?_

"Okay, didn't see that coming," I whispered. Curious, I touched the tip of her horn, only to quickly snatch it back, barely holding back a gasp of pain. The tip of my finger now had a shiny burn mark on it.

"Not good." I picked Twilight up in my arms, carefully avoiding her horn, and said, "Hey, Twi, wake up."

Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she looked at me tiredly. "Nate…I feel…strange," she admitted, rubbing her head in discomfort. Tensing a little, she asked, "Why are you carrying me?"

"Your horn feels like a pointy Bunsen burner," I stated. "I got worried, so I'm walking us to town."

"But you're in human form," she protested, squirming in my arms.

I tightened my grip on her, and stubbornly said, "It's nighttime. The only ones who will be watching us are the moon, and a couple eccentric ponies. Maybe some artists."

"Well, even then, where are we going?"

"I'm thinking we should head to my place," I answered. "I should still have some of the books I borrowed from the library in there, and one of them should be a medical textbook." A trolling idea popped into my head, and I grinned. "And maybe we can have some coffee."

"I don't like coffee though."

"Me neither," I said in a low voice, smiling suggestively. I couldn't keep it up for long though, and I busted up laughing, despite Twilight's apparent illness.

Twilight wasn't amused. She jabbed her horn at my side, and I yelped in pain. Much to the surprise of both of us, my shirt now had a small scorch mark on the side of it, and a small hole torn into it.

"I didn't mean to do that!" Twilight instantly said, looking at her horn with a hint of fear in her eyes. "I don't know how that happened…"

"Yeah. Your horn isn't that pointy…" I then pushed my glasses up a little, and cleared my throat. "Uh, scratch that."

Indeed, as Twilight saw in the dim reflection of my glasses, that her horn had lengthened, and was now significantly pointier than before. Man, did I just really use the word "pointier"? Sorry, off-topic.

"What's happening to me?" Twilight whispered, her voice trembling.

"I don't know, but I have some suspicions…" I replied truthfully. "Let's get to the library then."

"What about your place?"

"Spike isn't at my house. We're gonna have to have him send a letter to the Princesses," I said firmly, taking off down the path. "If this is what I think it is, things could get…messy."

**XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX**

After a hasty explanation, Spike had sent the letter to Princess Celestia, despite the late hour, and I had set Twilight in her bed. She had fallen asleep again, this time because of a whispered sleeping spell on my part, and I was slumped in a chair next to her bed.

"Is she gonna be okay?" the small dragon asked, looking at the unicorn with concern evident on his face.

A half-smile appeared on my face, I tousled the small dragon's head (it's really awkward to do that to lizard with no hair), and chuckled. "Spike, this is Twilight we're talking about. Not being okay isn't on her to-do list," I joked.

He laughed, and sat on a small stool next to my chair. For a while, we just chatted, him asking me about our latest adventures. Just as I finished telling him how we tricked The Capitol into thinking we had died in the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games (fun story, remind me to tell you guys), he gagged suddenly, and a puff of green flame shot out. The flames quickly transformed into a scroll, bearing the mark of the royal family.

Spike and I both snatched at it at the same time, both of us eager to hear what the Princess had to say.

I started to read it out loud, while Spike tapped his clawed food on the ground nervously. "'Spike, Sean…'" I stopped for a moment, and looked at Spike. Celestia used that name only when things were vastly serious. "'Move Twilight to her basement, and have Spike gather the rest of the girls. Luna and I, along with Shining Armor and Cadence, will be there shortly. Sean, do not leave Twilight's side for even a moment.'"

Spike and I stared at the letter incredulously. I don't think either of us were expecting THAT sort of response.

This doth not bode well for the home team.

"Spike, you heard the letter! Er, I mean, read the-Oh, you know what I mean!" I said, crumpling up the letter, and shoving it into my pocket. "Go get the girls. I'll move Twilight downstairs. Wait…"

Just before I went to the door, I pulled the curtains in Twilight's room shut, and gestured for Spike to do the same as he went down. He got the idea, and did as I asked, before scampering out the door. I gave him a few seconds, and then snuck into the basement, trying to make as little noise as possible. As soon as I reached the bottom, I gently set her down on a blanket, and sat by her, tugging my revolver out of its personal Pocket Dimension.

This is definitely bad.

Very. Very. Bad.


	11. Shouting Match

**Story 2:**

**Part II**

**Shouting Match**

For what felt like hours, I sat in the darkness of Twilight's basement, one hand resting reassuringly on my sleeping unicorn's side, and the other tightly gripping my revolver, the thumb positioned on the hammer, ready to pull it back at the slightest hint of action. Every little sound that reached my ears made my heart stop for an instant, as I set my mind to putting together what was going on.

"Alright, so here's what I know so far," I whispered quietly to myself. "Whatever is making Twilight all messed up, is something big enough to worry the Princesses enough to warrant an appearance by them, and by the captain of the Royal Guard. Now, apparently, even though it's serious, she doesn't want to have the entire world knowing about it, hence the reason she didn't say she was bringing a squadron of guards. She also told us to stay where we are; meaning that she doesn't want us to be spotted…secrecy is the key in this scenario."

I adjusted Twilight more comfortably on the floor, and covered her with a small blanket that I had had the sense to snag on the way down. As soon as I was satisfied that she was good enough, I went back to my thinking. "Now, what else…Spike was sent to gather the others. Now why would he be sent, and not me, unless she thinks that Twilight needs to be guarded? The question here though, is what does she need to be protected from? Also, now that I think about it, with Spike getting the girls (way to go, you finally get the girls! ZING!), that also means that she doesn't want things to look out of the ordinary, as Spike frequently runs errands such as these…and things that are out of the ordinary attract attention."

Suddenly, I heard the clopping of hooves on the floor above me, and I gently thumbed the hammer of the revolver down. As I heard the door up above me creak open, I asked myself one last thing:

Who would be paying attention in the first place, and why?

"Omnius? Twilight?" I heard Spike call out from the top of the stairs. "It's me! I brought the others!"

"Get down here then," I hissed. "Wait! Spike, what did I do to the guard ponies we met at the Grand Galloping Gala?"

"Why are you asking me that?" he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"I'm paranoid that you're some sort of changeling!"

"What? Why would I be a changeling?"

"…You raise a fair point there, Spike." I then cracked my neck, and added, "Just answer the question though."

"Ugh, fine. You tried to do something called a 'Vulcan Neck Pinch', and then punched one in the face," answered the small dragon.

"Yep, that's you. Alright, come on down."

"What's with the paranoia, anyways?" Spike grumbled as he walked down the stairs, the rest of the girls in tow. As they neared the bottom, I let loose a breath I didn't know I had been holding, and gestured for them to sit down.

"Sorry, but after a combination of the response from the princesses, and my experience with living through the Holocaust a few times…" I left the rest unsaid, as they could guess what I had meant by, "Holocaust."

After exchanging pleasantries with the rest of the girls, and getting them up to speed on what was happening, I leaned against the wall, while Pinkie asked, "Wait, if the princesses are coming, when do you think they'll get here?"

"That's a good question." I glanced at the door, and thoughtfully said, "Maybe one of us should be at the door. Make sure we know they're-YE GODS!"

Right in the center of the floor, a bright flash of light erupted forth, and I quickly threw my arm up to shield my eyes, instinctively shifting into unicorn form. My revolver fell to the ground, before it was encased in the navy blue aura of my magic. Contrary to popular belief, it's actually kinda hard to hold a gun, and use it, with magic. Mostly because since you're grabbing pretty much every part of it, you have to make sure that you also pull the trigger, while turning the reloading mechanism, etc, etc.

"You can put the gun down, Omnius," A regal voice said softly.

"Sorry, Princess," I apologized, slipping the revolver back into its pocket dimension. As my eyes adjusted, I recognized the forms of all three princesses, along with the…angered…glare of Shining Armor.

Oh. Shit, we haven't told him yet, have we?

"It is quite alright. Hello everypony," Princess Celestia, greeted the others.

"Howdy there, Princesses!" Applejack said. "Uh, iff'n y'all don't mind me askin', but what's wrong with Twilight?"

"Yes, she looks absolutely horrid!" Rarity stated. "And her horn is burning to the touch!"

Luna nodded, and she trotted over to Twilight's slumbering form. Frowning slightly, she touched the tip of her own horn to Twilight's, and Cadence smiled at me. "So, Omnius…how've you been?"

"Oh, pretty good so far. You know, kicking flank, taking names. Howzabout you two?"

"Great! Shining Armor really managed to-"

Said unicorn husband rudely interrupted her, by saying, "When did you start going out with Twilight?"

"Oh, a while ago. Why do you ask?" I said cheerfully.

Shining Armor's eyes narrowed dangerously, and a spark of magic appeared for an instant, before disappearing. Cadence looked at him worriedly, and said, "Um, Shining? We talked about this. You said you weren't going to get mad…"

"Oh, I'm not mad," he said unconvincingly. "I'm just peachy."

Before I could ask him what was up, Luna turned to look at all of us. Clearing her throat, she said, "It is as we feared."

"What? Is Twilight gonna be okay?" I instantly asked, almost at the same time as Shining Armor. He was just a couple seconds off though.

"…I do not know how to say this, but…" Luna hesitated, before Celestia nodded, and took over.

"Omnius, how powerful is Twilight's magic?"

"Pretty damn powerful, I'd say," I replied.

Rainbow Dash nodded, saying, "Yeah! She's like the most powerful unicorn ever!"

"Right. Now, when she was tied to Omnius' life force-"

"SHE WAS WHAT!" Shining Armor exclaimed in surprise.

Everypony looked at me, and I sheepishly grinned. "We, erm, might not have gotten around to telling him everything yet."

"Oh…Well, it's a good thing that we already told him about you being The Traveler of Good," Cadence joked.

Shining was not amused.

"I want to know why my baby sister had to be tied to that chump over there!" He shouted.

"We'll explain later," Celestia stated. At the looks of everypony, most notably myself and Shining, she sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll get straight to the point then: When Twilight's life was connected to yours, her own magical power began to increase as a result."

"Right, I knew that. We found that out after Twilight zapped a bunch of Death Eaters-I mean, Bad guys into a wall." I mentally berated myself for the near slip of the tongue.

"What you didn't know is that it also triggered a…mutation, if you will," Luna cut in. "Her body, in this form at least, can't withstand that much magic. Starswirl the Bearded almost had a similar problem himself, if you recall."

"Okay, but what do you mean by 'mutation'?" My suspicions started to seem more like fact, as new information started coming to light.

"The best way to explain this, is for you to simply feel her back," Cadence stated. She motioned for me to go over to Twilight, and I gulped audibly.

Under the gazes of everypony in the room (and the death laser glare from Shining), I placed a hoof on Twilight's neck. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Slowly, I moved it lower, and lower, feeling her back, until I reached a spot where I felt something…harder than the rest of her back. Two something's, actually.

"Why do I feel bumps here?" I asked.

"Where would you find those bumps on another pony?" Luna asked me softly.

"…Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy…" I said in a trembling voice. They started at the sound of their names coming from me, and I asked them, "Please extend your wings. Please."

Hesitantly, as if they had already guessed what I needed surefire confirmation of, they did as I asked, spreading their wings until were spread to their full length. I gazed at their wings, and nodded as everypony took note of the spot where the wings connected to the body.

For an instant, there was silence, and then I said, "She's becoming an Alicorn." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes. Currently, her body can't handle the raw amounts of magic, and it is changing to adjust for it. Normally, this isn't a problem in most unicorns, because as they grow they get more powerful. In Twilight's case, however, her magic exploded in growth, and as she doesn't age as much as she used to, if at all…" Cadence trailed off, letting us figure out the rest for ourselves.

I looked at Twilight, and fell to my knees besides her. Gently, I brushed a strand of hair away from her face, smiling softly. "Twilight's gonna be an Alicorn…that's…SO FREAKIN' COOL!" I laughed, trying to be happy about the situation.

Celestia smiled, before nodding her head. Her smile quickly disappeared, however, as she told me something that had completely slipped my mind. "Unfortunately, the transformation has the unfortunate side effect of making her temporarily susceptible to almost all forms of magic."

"What do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asked.

Luna looked up at the door, as if checking to make sure we were still completely alone, before answering, "Do you recall when Torrentican attempted to steal Celestia's magic?" When we all nodded, she continued. "The spell required to do that is one that comes from this world…and he has been spreading its knowledge to others…Others who would jump at the chance to steal the magic of arguably the most powerful unicorn in Equestria."

My eyes widened, and I leaped to my hooves. Before my mind's eye, the faces of everyone with revenge motives we'd crossed paths with on this world flew past it in a speeding blur: Torrentican, Trixie, the griffons, the dragons, Queen Chrysalis, the Diamond Dogs…

All of them would want revenge, or more power, and Twilight was the perfect way to get that…

"No way in hell am I gonna let that happen!" I snarled, feeling a primal rage build up inside of me.

Shining Armor nodded, and he went and slung Twilight on his back, ignoring the confused look I gave him. Without so much as acknowledging my presence, he turned to the three Alicorns, and said, "I'll take Twilight with me back to Canterlot. I can have the guards there protect her, while I put up another shield around the city for however long it takes for her to finish that."

"Wrong-o there Captain Equestria," I cut in, jumping in front of the stairs and cutting off his path. "If Torrentican is involved, then he'll definitely spread the word to everyone with a grudge against Twilight, or me. That means the changelings will have heard about it, and they'll be impersonating some guards."

"Not the ones that I hoof-pick myself," he shot back. "I think I know my own troops well enough to know which are fake, or real."

Am I the only one getting tired of his attitude problem towards me? I looked over to Luna and Celestia, and they nodded, understanding what I was silently asking them. Well. I hope this works.

"Yeah, you did great with knowing your own WIFE was replaced by one of them. Oh, wait, sorry. You didn't, and technically, she was your fiancée back then," I spat. The look of rage on his face nearly took me by surprise, but I stood my ground.

"Either way, I'd sooner trust them than I'd trust you!" he angrily shouted, trying to shove his way past me. "I don't care WHAT Twilight thinks of you. You're the reason she's in this mess, and you're the reason all of those monsters want to hurt her."

"Now wait just a minute," I tried to interrupt, but to no avail.

"In fact, you can just go disappear again for all I care! You obviously can't protect Twilight from any of them. For once, it seems like Twilight didn't make a smart choice…I'm surprised she was dumb enough to fall for you!" he growled, shoving me aside.

All of the ponies in the room gasped at his show of anger, and the unintentional insult he had thrown at Twilight. I was thankful she was asleep for that.

"If you excuse me, I need to go find a squadron of guards who are actually cut out for the job!" He finished, opening the door in front of him.

And I was thankful she was asleep for what I was about to say…

"…You think that I can't protect her?" I whispered in a deathly quiet tone. "You think that you could do a better job than I could?" Shaking in rage, I used my magic to slam the door shut on his face, forcing him to turn around and face me. "You...you, ARROGANT, NAIVE, BASTARD! If you think you can do a better job, then answer me a few questions!" I shouted, trotting up the stairs to look him in the eye. "If you're so caring and protective of that mare, then where the FUCK have you been!" He flinched, as if I had just said something he didn't want to bring up, and I went on. "Where were you when Nightmare Moon returned? And don't give me any excuses about not having heard of it!" I yelled as he opened his mouth to respond. "I know for a fact that several guards were there already, some of them Pegasi, and they've been trained to fly to Canterlot in less than a couple of hours! And yes, you had plenty of guards to spare! I saw all the guards at your wedding! So!" He backed up a couple of steps, and I followed him, pressing him downwards with the pure force of my anger. "Where were you, when she was about to fall off a cliff? When she was attacked by a manticore? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DISCORD WAS RELEASED? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE HAD TO BRAVE THE HEDGE MAZE! _**AND WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DEMONS ROSE FROM HELL, AND ATTACKED PONYVILLE?"**_

He fell back, looking like I had physically struck him, and tried to answer, but I didn't care for it. He was standing between Twilight, and safety, and he had pushed me to my breaking point. As he tried to find a good response, I used my magic to lift Twilight off of his back, and onto mine. As I did so, I said, "Now while you think of an answer to that, I'll tell you where I was." I pointed first at the girls, and then at myself, and snarled/growled, "_I _was right there besides her. _I _fought Nightmare Moon, _I _held back Discord, _I_ slayed or defeated every single monster that was foolish enough to try and hurt her, and made sure she was safe! And now, I'll make sure that nothing lays a single claw, talon, or hoof on her, until she can get back on her own hooves!" Stepping aside, I opened the door again, and gestured at it, never taking my gaze off of Shining Armor. "So you can either get the hell out of this house, or you can finally start making up for missing so much of her life, and _help me keep her safe."_

Shining shook his head, and sighed in defeat. Cadence shot me a look, to which I responded with an apologetic grimace, and she rushed to his side. They both looked at each other, silently conversing with each other in the way that only true couples can do, before Shining nodded.

He looked at me, and stuck out a hoof, saying, "I might not have been able to help her out before, but that was only because of bad luck. Even then, I still should have tried harder to help her. Now, I'm going to make sure that we can keep her safe…and I guess you're the best pony for the job."

I stuck out my own hoof, and we shook on it. Smiling, I said, "Great. Now then, come on. We need to find a better hiding place than this. Something tells me that someone'll be smart enough to-"

THUD!

Shining and I glanced above us, as dust fell on top of us, and the sound of creatures moving above us echoed throughout the basement.

"…Called it."


	12. Bubblegum? Where?

**Story 2**

**Part III**

**Bubblegum? Where?**

"What's up there?" Shining whispered, tensing as if to strike out.

I closed my eyes, and felt my ears twitch in anticipation. Inhaling deeply, I took in the raw scent of freshly torn earth. Above my head, the sound of padded paws thudded against the floor of the library, accompanied by the occasional "woof".

"Diamond Dogs…maybe a dozen, maybe more," I said, cracking my neck. Turning to the princesses, I nodded, saying, "Alright, here's the plan. I'm gonna go into human form, grab my new and improved boomstick, and unleash hell on them. Shining, feel free to join me."

"Omnius, you know that we're all powerful beings, right?" Luna asked rhetorically.

"You'll have to take Twilight, and head out. Obviously, Ponyville ain't safe enough if Diamond Dogs are traipsing around up there," I grunted, shifting back into my regular form. Shining yelped in surprise, as I opened a small Pocket Dimension, and put away the revolver, replacing it with a classic pump-action shotgun with a second grip on the pumping-mechanism.

"Alright, get outta here then." I loaded the shotgun, and climbed to the top of the stairs, slowly opening the door just a crack. "I'll figure out who tipped them off, and why they're here in the first place."

Celestia nodded, and the entire group of ponies vanished, leaving me and Shining by ourselves.

"So, think we'll be able to take 'em?" Shining said, giving me a cocky grin.

I grinned right back at him, and clicked the side of my glasses, transforming them into a pair of black sunglasses. Turning to the door, I brought my boot up, and slammed the door open, startling the pair of burly dogs that stood in front of it.

"It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum!" I shouted, slamming the butt of the shotgun on head of the one closest to me. "And I'm ALL OUT OF GUM!"

[I'd highly suggest listening to "Grabbag" from Duke Nukem. Preferably the CarboHydroM version.]

Without skipping a beat, I brought up the gun, and fired it at another armored dog, tearing apart his shoddy armor, but failing to kill him. Good, I don't wanna have to clean up their bodies. Or traumatize any ponies.

Shining seemed to hold no reserves about killing them, as he charged at one, and impaled his horn upon its torso, neatly piercing the armor and tearing into its heart. The dog staggered back, before falling over.

"Nothing hurts my little sister," he growled, putting a shield up between him and another dog that had leaped into the fray.

Meanwhile, I ejected the spent shell, and loaded another one into the chamber, kicking out again with my boot to push a dog into another, forcing them to the ground. "Stay!" I commanded, before jumping back to avoid the razor sharp claws of a dog that had snuck up on me.

Instead of panicking, I simply let my instincts take over. Years, and years of combat experience, training, and failed experimenting (never load a cannon with the scattershot weapon from Contra) all resurfaced, and I ceased thinking.

Instead, I reacted.

My shotgun came up with blazing speed, and with a squeeze of the trigger, another Diamond Dog fell, never to rise again. Realizing the gun was empty, I picked it up like a club, and used it to block the double fisted blow of one of the Guard Dogs (those huge D-Dogs with armor on). Pushing him back, I shoved the barrel into his mouth, and tore the crude knife he had at his belt away from him. Not even skipping a beat, I jammed it into his throat, and took my shotgun back.

"Down!" Shining yelled. I instantly ducked my head, and a small purple dome, roughly the size of a cannonball, shot over my head, taking out a would-be assassin.

"Thanks!" I shouted over the commotion. Shoving the gun into another P.D, I reached in and pulled out a golden magnum, and smiled evilly. "Come get some," I growled.

The rest of the Diamond Dogs fled with their tails tucked between their legs.

"Groovy."

[Music over]

"It's worse than I thought," I stated once the chaos was over.

"Worse?" Shining repeated questioningly.

I nodded, and went over to the two Dogs that were still cowering in the corner. "Someone decided to get all lippy, like Luna said, and they told the Dogs about Twilight's…changes." Glaring at the two prisoners, I knelt beside them, and continued. "Someone told them how it'd be beneficial, or how it would be good for revenge."

One of the dogs caught on to what I was saying, and he quickly shouted, "We do not know anything! Honest! We is just simple scout dogs!"

"Who sent you then?" I asked, Shining standing right behind me with a knife held in his magical grasp. "And tell the truth. Me and my friend here hate liars."

The other dog gulped, fear in his eyes, and said, "Alpha did! Alpha did! He says we is to get pony so we can get more gems!"

"Okay. Who told your Alpha, then?" Shining growled.

"Demon in black coat! He says that we can gets our own magics if we get the pony! Please don't hurt us!" he whimpered pathetically.

I sighed, and stood up, rubbing my head. "Alright," I finally said in a calmer voice. "You can go then. Just do me two favors."

"Anything!" they promised quickly.

"First: clean up the mess. I don't wanna deal with that tonight," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"And what's the other?" the smaller dog asked hopefully.

"Deliver a message to your alpha…" Suddenly, I grabbed one of the dogs by the collar, and brought him up to meet my eyes. "Tell him that if he's gonna try this again…well, he's gonna need a bigger army."

The dog's eyes widened in fear, sending a pang of guilt through me, but I slammed the dog onto the ground, and nodded. "Got it?" Shining emphasized.

The dogs nodded meekly, and I turned on my heels, and stormed out of the library.

"Well. I didn't expect you to get THAT angry," Shining said as soon as we were outside.

"I didn't either. But now I'm even more worried," I said, wiping sweat off of my forehead. "Did you notice how the dogs weren't surprised to see me in my human form?"

"I dunno, they looked pretty shocked to me. Then again, maybe that was you kicking open the door and shouting stuff about bubblegum."

"That'd do it," I agreed. "But even after, when we were interrogating those two mini-dogs."

"Mini-dogs?"

"They looked like Chihuahua versions of Diamond Dogs. I mean, did you see how short they were?" I chuckled. "No, sorry, off topic. The point is, that there's only one other person who could've shown them their human form so that they wouldn't be too surprised."

"That Torrentican person you mentioned?"

"Yeah. Him."

With that, we lapsed into silence, and started to aimlessly wander the town, until we found ourselves outside of the forest. I glanced around, and said, "Alright, we'll wait in that cave over there until the princesses can get a signal to us or something."

"Right. So…who else do you think knows about this?" Shining asked as we sat down on the floor.

Leaning against the walls, I thought about it for a moment, and said, "Alright, I'm gonna use some detective work here…"

"Hey, if it helps us out, go for it," Shining shrugged.

"Okay. So, here's what we know. Torrentican somehow knows about Twilight's change. He's informed the Diamond Dogs, who would be able to use her magic to mine more gems, and maybe have a little revenge for when we handed their asses to them when Rarity was pony-napped by them." I got up and started pacing, pulling a bubble pipe out of my pocket, and blowing on it thoughtfully. "So, if we're going by process of elimination, who else would stand to benefit from this?"

"The changelings," Shining answered instantly. "If Twilight hadn't figured out what was happening at the wedding, Canterlot would've been taken over."

"Correct. Not only that, but Queen Chrysalis could take that magic, and use it to increase her baseline power. If that were to happen, she could not only challenge Celestia and Luna without having to feed on anything, but she could use that to spread her reign of power. Imagine if she somehow got into the Griffon territories," I pointed out, tapping the pipe to my beard.

"That's true…man, if she's the worst one-"

"Oh, by no means, she isn't! We can't forget the dragons! During the great dragon migration, those teenager dragons got their asses handed to them by little old me. If they spread the word that there's a powerful dragon fighter running amuck, like I told them too, then that means that they'll be looking for a chance to silence me." I coughed slightly, and added, "That, and grown dragons will naturally go for anything that can increase their standing if it holds small enough risk."

"Is there anyone you didn't manage to piss off?" Shining asked sarcastically.

"Well, I'm fairly certain Discord won't wanna mess with us. Heck, if he were freed again, he'd probably help us," I admitted.

"…You're an interesting creature, you know that?"

"Twilight says that allllll the time."


End file.
